


All you need is glove

by vrepitsals



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Black Paladin Lance (Voltron), Canon compliant up to the end of season 5, F/F, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Minor Allura/Shay, Mutual Pining, Slow Burn, Soulmate-Identifying Marks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-05
Updated: 2018-06-05
Packaged: 2019-05-18 10:55:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 35,766
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14851398
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vrepitsals/pseuds/vrepitsals
Summary: The first time Hunk meets Lance's eyes he feels the creation of the universe, but when their hands touch his wrist remains bare. Hunk may not have Lance's name, but Lance is his soulmate, and that's the end of that. However, when you add piloting a giant robot lion and a certain Red Paladin into the mix, things aren't quite that simple.A soulmate au where you get your soulmate's name on your wrist the first time you touch hands





	All you need is glove

**Author's Note:**

> This is my piece for the [Hunk Revolution Big Bang](https://hunkrevolution.tumblr.com/) over on tumblr.
> 
> [dxnceophobia](https://dxnceophobia.tumblr.com/) made some gorgeous artwork for this story - you can see it on tumblr [here](https://dxnceophobia.tumblr.com/post/174579906736/my-two-pieces-for-the-hunkrevolution-that-pair)

When Hunk meets Lance's eyes across the hall of the Garrison he feels the creation of the universe.

Not that he knows the boy's name is Lance, of course. He can see the brown hair and skin, he can see the smile that engulfs his features, but he doesn't know anything about him. Not his favourite colour or what he does for fun. Not how many siblings or pets he has, or whether he likes pineapple on his pizza. The only thing Hunk knows for certain is that this boy is his soulmate.

Hunk's grown up with the stories, after all. He'd snuggle underneath his blankets and hold Einstein the bear tight and beg his mothers for the story. The one he knew by heart but which only came alive in the retelling.

“Just once more”, he'd lie, “tell me how you met.”

One mother would lay a hand on her wife's knee and ask him "are you sure you're not sick of that story honey?" The other would laugh and thread her fingers through Hunk's hair with a smile. His parents' parts in the retelling would change each time, ebbing and flowing around each other in a perfect dance, but the meaning behind them never faltered. Hunk knew his mothers had as close to perfect a love as one could attain, and Hunk would close his eyes as they told him the story, dreaming of the day that he would find his own soulmate.

Even now, as the boy approaches him, Hunk can already hear himself telling the story in the future. "Well, it all started on our third day of the Galaxy Garrison, I was training to be an engineer…"

The boy comes up and introduces himself as Lance, and Hunk files that away in the deepest part of his memory, where he'll never forget the warmth that spreads through him, because Lance is the perfect name for this boy. They eat lunch together and talk about their families and hometowns. Hunk learns that Lance has three siblings, all older, a dog named Marvey and that he loathes pineapple unless it is on pizza.

Hunk still doesn't know how it would feel to hold Lance's hand, although he wants to. He can see the way Lance eyes his hand too, and assumes his thoughts are similar. But they're both young, and Hunk is happy to go slow, to leave their marks until the right time.

Hunk is overwhelmingly, prodigiously happy.

He and Lance share more classes than Hunk originally thought. He couldn't imagine having missed Lance even in a crowd, but the combined low level classes are large, and the assigned seating puts them at opposite ends of the room.

Now, however, whenever Iverson calls for pair work Lance meets his eyes across the room with an all-encompassing grin.

They spend days in the cafeteria or library, evenings in each other's dorm rooms swapping stories until lights out. They find themselves drawn together like planets basking in the warmth of a sun. They grow ever closer, and Hunk decides with ever growing certainty that a life beside Lance is a life Hunk can't wait to live.

One night Lance shakes Hunk awake once everyone else is asleep, and leads him the roof to watch the stars. Hunk offers Lance his jacket when he shivers, and they lean up against each other, sharing warmth and pointing out all the constellations they know.

The night is silent, and Hunk feels like he and Lance are the only people left in the world. It's there, in their own little pocket of reality, that Hunk offers his hand and Lance hesitantly takes it, smiling at the dull burn that spreads across both their palms.

Hunk is so absorbed watching his name write itself across Lance's left wrist in yellow ink, in the clean crisp handwriting that he learned from his mothers and that his teachers have praised since he was small, that he almost doesn't notice Lance's frantic gasp. But he feels when Lance tries to rip his hand away.

A question is half out of Hunk's mouth when his eyes catch his own wrist, blank as the day he was born. His mind slows to a standstill, and for a moment Hunk knows without a shadow of a doubt that this is the moment where his dream turns into a nightmare, any second he's going to wake up with a racing heart and not enough breath.

He doesn't.

Lance lets out a soft sob as he looks at the writing on his own hand. As Hunk looks at it again, the crisp writing feels ugly like it hadn't before. It's not worth anything if it causes Lance pain.

Hunk reaches out with gentle arms and pulls Lance against him, slowly so as not to startle him.

"It's not right Lance," Hunk says, carding a hand through Lance's hair, "you're my soulmate, I can feel it. Maybe it was just a fluke the first time. Maybe if we touch hands again it'll-"

Lance smiles as he pulls away. It doesn't reach all the way up his lips, let alone to his eyes.

"Maybe I'm just not Hunk," he says, and when Lance brushes his hand against Hunk' cheek there's no warmth.

"I don't care what my wrist says Lance, I-"

"Hunk," Lance says, and the finality of his tone cuts Hunk's words off, "we're fifteen. We have no idea who we're going to meet or what's going to happen. Let's just think about it for a little while, okay?"

When Lance says 'we' Hunk knows he means ‘you’.

"You're my soulmate, Lance," Hunk whispers into the night air.

Lance smiles at him again as he leaves. He keeps Hunk's jacket. Hunk feels better knowing that at least some part of him is with Lance.

The Garrison uniforms have long sleeves that cover the wrist, so no one notices or asks about Lance's soul mark. They still eat together and study together in the library. They still sit in each other's dorms until lights out, but the stories dry up far more quickly than they used to. They don't sneak out after dark together. They don't sit on the roof to watch the stars.

Hunk suddenly can't stand anyone except Lance standing near him. He fidgets and frets and doesn't know where to put his hands. He worries they might brush against someone else's and mark him with a brand he doesn't want. The universe already made one mistake by not marking him as Lance's, he can't trust it won't make another.

He resigns himself to the anxiety. Some days he already feels other worries building in him enough that he can scarcely notice the additional burden.

But when he pulls on the space suit for his first flight simulation he feels a breath leave him that he hadn't realised he'd been holding for months. He feels the protective fabric around his hand and wrist and feels some semblance of peace.

They pass the simulator, although they come closer to crashing than Hunk would like. He stands beside a pilot whose name Hunk knows but whose main defining feature in Hunk's eyes is that he isn't Lance and listens to Iverson's warnings about how much harder these things will get. His mind is worlds away.

Hunk runs straight to his dorm after the lesson ends. He writes to his parents and asks them to send him a pair of gloves. He tells them that the soap the Garrison uses and the long engineering practicals are wearing down his skin.

When the small package arrives a month later Hunk rips it open and riffles through it. He pulls the leather gloves on and feels the extra tension leave his shoulders once more. He packs the prescription strength hand cream in his suitcase for when winter comes and he actually needs it and reads the letter they sent with a light heart.

Hunk refuses to take the gloves off for four days. He has received two detentions and the threat of worse by the time Lance tugs him into his dorm room and turns to him an unsure expression.

"You need to take off the gloves Hunk."

Hunk stares at him for a moment, then looks at the layer of protection over his skin and clenches his fists.

"I don't want to."

"Come on Hunk, you hate getting in trouble," Lance sighs. Hunk's fists unclench the moment Lance rubs his fingers over them.

"I hate the feeling I get when I don't wear them even more."

Hunk looks at Lance, his voice low and steady. Lance meets his eyes with lowered brows, and Hunk feels the familiar spark in the back of his mind.

"What is - is this about the mark Hunk?"

"I'm scared Lance."

Lance runs his hands up to Hunk's shoulders and Hunk lets himself sink into Lance's arms.

"I'm scared that the universe made another mistake, that I'll get some stranger's mark and they'll try and take me away from you."

Lance lets out a wavering breath.

"Hunk, babe, it's okay if that happens. I want you to be happy."

Hunk pulls back and looks Lance in the eye.

"Lance," he says, his tone gentle but firm, "how many times do I have to tell you I am happy? I'm so happy Lance, I found my soulmate, no matter what any mark may say. I don't want anything to come between us."

"But this…" Lance trails off, his gaze falling to Hunk's arms

"Isn't permanent. It isn't a disfigurement, it isn't a punishment for myself Lance. It's a promise," Lance's eyes meet Hunk's again and Hunk rests his head against Lance's.

"I don't want anyone but you," he finishes.

Lance chuckles wetly, and they don't let go. They hold on to each other until the tears stop and their breathing evens out.

"You still need to take off the gloves Hunk," Lance says eventually, smiling up at him.

Hunk moves to protest but Lance cuts him off with a peck to the lips.

"At least during class. We can't be together if you're expelled for uniform violation can we?"

Hunk laughs, and takes off the gloves so Lance can curl their fingers together.

Six weeks later Lance gives him a wrapped package during lunch and a fond look. Hunk takes too long opening it ("just rip the paper Hunk" "I can use it to cover one of my books") but finds a pair of fingerless gloves within. He rubs his thumb across soft, black wool in neat stitches and smiles at what he knows is Lance's handiwork.

"I know you've been complaining about the decrease in fine motor movements with the leather gloves," Lance says in explanation, "so I thought fingerless gloves might help."

Hunk turns his smile to the boy sitting across from him.

"Thank you Lance."

"And look," Lance leans across the table and takes the left-hand glove, turning it inside out to reveal blue thread the exact colour of Lance's eyes spelling out his name in embroidery, "now you'll have my name on your wrist. I mean I know it's not exactly the same, but-"

Lance trails off as Hunk rounds the table and draws him into his arms. The noise of the other students around them fades away as Hunk sniffles into Lance's shoulder.

"I love them, thank you."

* * *

 

Hunk already knows too much about Keith before he's even seen him.

Lance talks about the boy enough for Hunk to piece together most aspects of his character: ace pilot, distant, top of his class, aloof, Iverson's favourite student, loner and mullet.  Hunk never reminds Lance that many of the descriptors are synonyms of each other. He doesn't mention the one time Lance slips up and calls Keith pretty instead of petty, or the blush on Lance's cheeks that reveals that he thinks Keith is both.

It honestly doesn't bother Hunk. He wonders if perhaps it should, but he can't get past how cute Lance looks when his cheeks redden, and he knows he doesn't have anything to worry about.

Instead, Hunk just curls his fingers through Lance's as more and more of their time together is spent going over physics calculations and aspects of drift so that Lance can beat his rival in the next pop quiz.

One pro of the Garrison's strict no gloves policy is that he can take Lance's hand whenever he wants and can feel the warm palm against his. However, he still feels naked without them on whenever he and Lance aren't alone, and pulling them on each afternoon once classes are done is more of a relief than changing out of the stuffy uniform.

Lance takes Hunk home to meet his family during summer vacation. Lance's mother wraps Hunk in her arms and his brothers and sisters tell Hunk all the embarrassing stories they can think of while they ruffle Lance's hair. Hunk spends his days laughing at Lance's side, with his family at the beach, or taking Marvey for long walks among the Cuban countryside.

The only downer of the entire trip is that Lance introduces Hunk as his best friend rather than his soulmate and keeps his wrists covered with long sleeves despite the summer heat.

Lance flies up early to meet Hunk's family on the way back to the Garrison and Hunk meets him at the airport with open arms. The ensuing hug dispels the month long separation, as they both spent some time with their respective families before staying at Hunk's for the last few weeks before school starts.

Hunk doesn't want the summer to be over, but he also can't say he's sorry to see their time apart come to a close.

Lance meets his mums and Hunk takes him to see the sights. His little sister joins them and they swing her between their arms and Hunk buys them all ice cream with his allowance. He and Lance swap stories about their respective families and they watch the stars in the backyard.

Hunk finally meets Keith on their first day back.

It's not a shock that it's been this long. The engineers and fighter pilots only ever have introductory classes together, where the sea of students is enough for anyone to get lost, and group simulation classes, where the classes are so small it would have been more surprising if they had been in the same group than not.

Hunk sees Keith entering a dorm room a few doors down from his. He recognises him immediately from Lance's description, but still does the polite thing and introduces himself. When Keith meets Hunk's eyes Hunk tells himself he doesn't feel the creation of the universe.

Hunk forces himself to smile and excuses himself. Keith just stands there quietly until he shuts his door.

Lance looks up from where he's lying on Hunk's unmade bed.

He has his own, of course. They'd put their names down together the moment they found out that second years got to pick their roommates. The Garrison's official stance is against soulmates rooming together, but Lance is never without long sleeves, so it's not exactly like anyone knows about them. Hunk tries to ignore the fact that Lance would probably have told their entire grade that he found his soulmate if they both had matching marks to show everyone. This is probably the only time the whole mark debacle has worked in their favour.

But Hunk can't bring himself to regret anything when Lance looks up at him with a sly grin. Hunk knows that if Lance has decided that Hunk's bed is more comfortable then there's nothing Hunk can do to stop him. He can't even pretend he minds.

"Who was that?" Lance asks, hiding a yawn behind his palm.

"Keith, he's a few doors down the hall."

Lance let out a puff of air and drapes one hand over his eyes.

"Still got a mullet?"

"Yep."

Another puff of air.

"Pity."

"Is it?" Hunk smiles down at him.

"Yeah, I think he keeps his pilot skills hidden in there."

Hunk laughs and settles himself on the bed beside Lance, leaning his back against the wall while Lance lays length ways. Lance throws his legs over Hunk's lap.

"What makes you think that?" Hunk asks. He knows he should be unpacking, but Lance's carefree attitude is infectious.

In answer to his question Lance uncovers his eyes and looks at him with one eyebrow raised.

"Why else would anyone have a mullet?"

Hunk laughs more at the look on Lance's face than the joke he's heard many times before. Lance joins in, and the last free afternoon before classes start stretches before them.

There's nowhere Hunk would rather be.

* * *

 

The year continues in much the same vein as all the best bits of the one before. Lance tells Hunk excitedly about the fact that his hero Takashi Shirogane is going to be on the Kerberos mission, the farthest humanity has ever gone.

They sit in the library surrounded by homework and talk about the planets they want to visit, given the chance. Lance takes Hunk's hand across the table and Hunk tries to ensure all the light he's feeling in his chest shines out of his face.

Hunk sometimes notices that Keith seems even more alone than he did before. Sure, the prodigy of their class didn't seem to be the most social guy, but Hunk had seen him hanging around with a few upperclassmen once or twice and sometimes he ate lunch with one of the younger instructors.

Now Hunk hasn't seen him interact with another person for weeks, possibly months.

Perhaps that's why when he and Lance are walking down an otherwise empty corridor and pass him Hunk very nearly asks Keith to join him on their trip to the common room with the pinball machine in the corner. They have a pocketful of quarters between them and Lance's hand is a solid weight in his.

This isn't supposed to be a date, just a normal Saturday afternoon, but Lance's dislike of Keith is well documented at this point, and Hunk doesn't want to step where it's not his place.

Instead he just smiles and greets Keith as they pass.

"Hey Keith, going to get some extra time on the simulator?"

He guesses Keith's destination based on their current location. He and Lance just left the simulator themselves, and Lance had beaten his personal best.

Keith just stares at Hunk with wide eyes for a moment. When Hunk looks at Keith he realises he's never seen him out of his uniform before. He's wearing a red leather jacket that his mother would call impractical given that it only covers half his torso, and on his hands there are a pair of black, fingerless gloves.

Keith gives him a shaky nod and hurries down the corridor.

From beside him Hunk can hear Lance grumble, but he rubs his thumb over Lance's fingers and he instead asks Hunk how he's going with his fluid mechanics project.

They play pinball on the table with a wonky leg. Hunk gains the highest score and Lance gives him a kiss on the cheek as a prize. A week later Iverson calls a special assembly and announces that the Kerberos mission failed and all crew were killed.

Lance is devastated at the loss of his hero, and Hunk is shaken at the stark reminder that those who go up don't always come back down. He finds his hand reaching for Lance's more and more often as his anxiety increases. He's never been more glad of the solid earth beneath their feet.

Hunk doesn’t see Keith in the corridor anymore. He doesn't really notice the absence until the next set of pilot simulation results come out and Keith's name isn't there in the top spot. Whispers seep through the students of expulsion, and Hunk ignores the way his heart falls.

He could barely call Keith an acquaintance, but his heart mourns his absence like a friend.

Lance is quiet in the following weeks. His laughter has a forced edge and his smiles are less bright. When Iverson confirms the rumours that one cargo pilot will be moved up to fighter class in Keith's absence he stands ramrod straight on Hunk's left. Once they're dismissed Lance pulls Hunk aside in the corridor and grabs both Hunk's hands.

"The one moving up is going to be me," he whispers like a secret.

Hunk thinks about how the best don't always come back, and squeezes Lance's hands, but he forces his voice to remain steady.

"What can I do to help?"

* * *

 

It should have been a normal night at the Garrison. Lance had wanted to do something reckless, Hunk had agreed against his better judgement and they'd sneaked out. They should have ended up having a great time, they should have either gotten caught and received detention or used more luck than either of them should possess to sneak back into bed undetected.

The next day’s lessons should have been exponentially harder to pay attention to on so little sleep, but Hunk should have looked at Lance's sleepy but content smile and known without a shadow of a doubt that it was worth it.

Adding Pidge to the mix should have increased the chances for team bonding and getting caught, but there's no reason it should have set off a chain of events that even Hunk could only attribute to fate. After all, what are the odds that there would be the three of them on the roof, and that they'd just happen to see the pod falling? What are the odds that one ex-classmate would have somehow predicted this event and been there to save them and the 'hero of the Galaxy Garrison' whose death apparently had been greatly exaggerated?

Even beyond that, Hunk isn't sure how to articulate that when Lance realised someone else had gotten to Shiro before them and run off, he wasn't surprised even for a second to hear that that someone was Keith.

Nothing about Keith has ever really felt surprising except for the news that he was gone.

Perhaps it's because Keith has always felt like an unasked question. He hovers at the edge of Hunk's vision the way no one else ever has. Sometimes it feels like Hunk's vision never really wavers, keeping Lance in its centre, but Keith is the only distractor in a world that melts away under Lance's light.

Keith being with them as the world leaves reality and promptly enters into science fiction territory feels right, even more so than Pidge, the team member they've been learning to rely on the last few months.

Perhaps these strange feelings about Keith were a premonition to this moment, when Keith would lead them to a puzzle that only Hunk could solve, to get to a giant robot that even before seeing it, Hunk knows without a shadow of a doubt is connected to Lance.

He can feel it on the edges of his mind, the soft lapping waves that accompany Lance's laugh and the smell of salt-drenched air that eases Hunk back to reality whenever his anxiety grows too fierce. The shape of a lion stares down at them with unmoving eyes, but its gaze follows Lance as he steps forward.

A flash brings Hunk a vision of four other lions combining with the one in front of them. He sees Voltron and knows without a shadow of a doubt that this is why they are all here. This is their purpose.

Hunk wants to run.

He wants to sneak back into his bed at the Galaxy Garrison and see Lance's sleepy smile during morning classes. He wants to bypass school entirely and drag Lance back to the summer, to the safety of his mothers' arms. He wants to forget the foolish dreams of space altogether . He could retrain as a Civil Engineer. Lance could become a tax accountant. They'd have solid Earth under their feet and each other. They don't need anything else.

But when Lance steps into the Blue Lion's mouth, when Lance embraces his destiny with a grin and open arms, Hunk follows.

* * *

 

Hunk thinks he could appreciate the beauty of space much more readily if it stopped trying to kill them every second of every day.

It was really just a matter of time until someone was seriously injured. Of course, Hunk expected it to happen during the heat of battle rather than at a party, and nothing could have prepared him for the fact that it would happen to Lance.

His heart falls to the floor when he sees Lance laying battered and broken in Shiro's arms. He wants to step forward, to pull Lance into him and find some way to give Lance his own life force through sheer will alone, but Coran is urging him towards a pod, towards the promise of the little he can do to help. Hunk turns and runs.

He leaves his heart behind.

The Balmera is testament to everything they've been fighting for. Innocent people (or beings, as Hunk realises he should possibly start calling the aliens they meet) enslaved by the Galra for doing nothing more than existing. A society in which even their own sky is kept hidden away.

Hunk meets Shay and he realises why he has been sent on this journey. For the first time it makes true, tangible sense.

The princess has told them, has used statistics of the Galran empire and the number of innocent lives lost as motivation during training. But the figures never really hit home until Hunk had to explain to Shay what freedom was.

Rax doesn't trust them, and Hunk can't necessarily blame him. For all they may want to, they aren't here to help this planet, only to collect a crystal and return to the castle as quickly as they can.

Hunk tells them that his friend is in danger. He doesn't tell them that the other half of his soul hangs in the balance and that the crystal is the only thing that can save him. Hunk thinks that if he explained it all Rax may have understood. It still doesn't quell the anger and betrayal as Rax sells them out to the Garla.

Hunk doesn't want to leave Shay behind, and his heart breaks to see her captured. But there's no way to save her without grounding themselves here, possibly forever. If he is being forced to choose between Shay and Lance, his heart has known the answer since he met Lance's eyes two years ago.

Instead he promises to return. He promises as much as he can, and can only hope it will be enough.

* * *

 

The flight back to the castle feels achingly slow. By the time they get back the battle is over, and Hunk all but runs with the crystal to the control room, leaving Coran and Allura to reinstall it as he sprints down empty corridors.

His helmet has been abandoned somewhere, and Hunk knows he'll need to retrace his steps to find it later, but nothing is further from his mind as he bursts into the healing room.

Lance is still unconscious, cradled in Keith's arms. But his chest is slowly rising and falling with breath and Hunk almost lets out a sob in relief. Keith looks exhausted, and doesn't protest as Hunk takes Lance from his arms, eyes frantically scanning his boyfriend's face for any other signs of life.

"Lance, you're okay," reverberates around the room over and over as relief and worry flood out of Hunk's mouth with equal measure. He knows the words are his, but he can do nothing to stop them. Keith rests a hand on his shoulder and Hunk looks at him with a smile and tear-filled eyes.

Together they load Lance into the pod with gentle hands, sighing in relief as the display declares his condition serious but not critical and the healing process begins.

Hunk draws Keith into his arms then, some part of him knowing that out of their crew Keith is the one who understands, Keith is the one who needs comfort right now.

"Thank you."

Keith slowly relaxes against Hunk's embrace and Hunk swears he can feel Keith's warmth. Through two suits of armour it doesn't seem like it should be possible, like there's something beyond thermodynamics drawing them together.

"I didn't do anything" Keith says, as if he's ashamed, his voice muffled against Hunk's chest. Hunk reflexively tightens his hold and draws the warmth closer to himself.

"You did enough. You made sure he was safe."

Keith doesn't say anything. He just sighs and burrows a little deeper into Hunk's embrace.

Eventually they step apart with dry eyes and Hunk leaves to shower and get a blanket and some food goo. He knows he won't be able to sleep until he makes sure Lance is okay. Until he can hear Lance's voice and hold him in his arms.

When he gets back Keith is still there, or rather he's already back, wearing his jacket and gloves, sitting on the floor and leaning back against an empty healing pod, bowl of food go in his hands. It's not expected, but Hunk doesn't question it, just settles beside him and pulls the blanket over their knees. They eat in silence and once their bowls are put aside Hunk tries and fails to come up with a pleasant topic of conversation.

"How did you and Lance meet?" Keith asks, beating him to it.

Hunk can feel a smile spread across his face as he begins the familiar story, the Galaxy Garrison hallway, the creation of the universe.

"And you knew then that Lance was your soulmate?" Keith asks.

They'd told the team early on in their training, after a delighted Allura had informed them that soulmates existed and worked in much the same way across all sentient species in the universe. No one questioned Hunk's gloves, although Pidge's gaze had lingered on them and her eyebrows had lowered. Hunk knew she was wondering why they never told her. She hasn't brought it up since though, and for that Hunk is grateful.

"Yeah, I knew then," Hunk says, watching the steady beat of Lance's heart on the monitor beside the pod.

Keith hums and looks away.

The castle floor is cold and hard beneath them, but the side near Keith is pleasantly warm. Hunk stretches out his legs as he thinks up another topic of conversation.

"You know, my little sister was convinced for almost a year that Kermit the Frog was her soulmate" Hunk says, smiling as Keith lets out a surprised laugh. He knows she would kill him if she knew he was telling this story, but if Hunk is stuck in space he's going to milk this single advantage of being away from his family.

"Surely she realised he's a puppet?" Keith splutters, his face shining mirth.

"She was six at the time. She wasn't going to let that stop her."

They laugh as Hunk expands the memory to include how she would draw his name on her wrist just to see what it would look like, and her vendetta against Miss Piggy. They're getting on probably the best they ever have when Hunk ruins it.

"So what about your family?" Hunk asks.

Keith stiffens against him, and Hunk regrets the words immediately. He's seen where Keith was living with his own two eyes. Teenagers with great home lives generally don't squat in desert shacks.

They sit in silence for a few minutes. Hunk wants to tell Keith not to worry about it, but he's scared of broaching the subject again, even to steer it off course.

"I had a pet dog in the desert for a little while," Keith says eventually.

Hunk looks over but Keith doesn't meet his gaze.

"Tell me about him" Hunk says.

"There's not much to tell. He was pretty independent, but he'd sleep on the bed next to me and sit next to the bike while I worked on it. We'd listen to the radio together and his favourite food was peanut butter."

"Sounds like a great dog," Hunk says, smiling.

"Actually I have a picture of him if you want to see him?"

Hunk nods, and Keith digs around in one of his fanny packs for a moment before he pulls out a small black notebook. He flips through the pages in silence before turning one of the one of them to face Hunk.

Hunk expects to see a photo, but what Keith shows him is a drawing in charcoal, with soft lines outlining the figure. Keith is obviously a talented artist, highlighting the long tail and pointed ears, even capturing a deep understanding in the eyes of his pet.

Unfortunately, the picture Keith shows Hunk is definitely of a coyote.

Hunk tries to keep his face blank as his mind races. He can't say anything, but he also doesn't want to not say anything. Should he let him down gently, or play along and let Keith keep the good memories of his favourite pet?

"He's really cute," Hunk says eventually, "what breed is he?"

Keith turns to stare Hunk straight in the eye for a moment before he bursts out laughing.

"I know what a coyote is Hunk," he says between gasps of air. The look of pure joy on his face sets Hunk off too.

"You're funny," Hunk pats Keith on the back as they both lose themselves in the joke, "I never expected you to be so funny."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Keith asks once their laughter dies down, one eyebrow raised.

"It means I think you should tell that one to Lance when he wakes up."

Hunk isn't sure how long they talk. Keith tells him some more stores about the desert (including his pet lizard named Toothpaste that he swears isn't a joke) and Hunk talks more about his mums and sister.

At some point they drift off and when Hunk wakes it's still early, the monitor behind Lance's pod showing a steady heart beat and improved stats.

Keith offers to get them breakfast when morning rolls around. Hunk thanks him and sends him a look that says he knows that Keith will try and convince the team he hasn't spent all night amongst the healing pods. Keith blushes as he leaves.

The team spends the last hour or so waiting for Lance together. Hunk doesn't feel whole again until Lance is back in his arms.

Lance eats a late breakfast and they fill him in on the details of the battle. Keith gets worked up over some alleged bonding and Hunk smiles at him over Lance's shoulder as Lance denies it vehemently. Lance sounds a little too dismissive to be sincere and Hunk files it away to ask him about later.

They have a few hours before they'll get the castle ship close to the Balmera. Hunk pulls Lance with him for a nap in one of the quieter common rooms. Lance protests, saying that he only just woke up, but he nods off in Hunk's arms almost as soon as they lie down. Allura's voice over the comms wakes them up and they groggily pull on their armour before going to meet the others in the briefing room.

As such, they don't have a chance to talk before they meet the others and Hunk's pre-mission anxiety starts to heighten. Pidge grins up at him as Shiro excuses Hunk's nerves for excitement.

"Yeah, excited to see his new girlfriend," she says with the universal tone of an annoying younger sibling.

Hunk starts.

"She's not my girlfriend! She's just a rock that I met and I admire very much."

He and Pidge know that he's Lance's soulmate. The teasing feels familiar, a well-practised script that he's played out with his little sister countless times around the kitchen table.

However, when he looks up he sees that Lance's smile has been wiped off his face, his eyes glued to Hunk's gloves. The joke comes crashing down around him, leaving nothing but an emptiness in his gut. He wants to pull Lance aside, he wants to draw Lance into his arms and remind him that he has nothing to worry about, but the distress beacon goes off before he has the chance.

When they touch down Lance immediately introduces himself to Nyma, and talks to her as Hunk helps Rolo with the repairs.

Hunk doesn't trust them one bit.

A lot of it is to do with the thermal piping, but it doesn't help that Nyma giggles at Lance a lot more than Hunk would deem strictly necessary and Lance's smile lightens up when she does. Pidge is already in love with Beezer and Keith, after his initial grumbling, is leaning up against Rolo's ship and smiling lightly as he talks to Rolo.

The entire team has gone insane is what's happening.

Lance flexes and Nyma applauds and Hunk's blood stars simmering. But he puts the team first, tells himself that he'll talk to Lance about it as soon as they fix Rolo's ship and continue on their way, before they get to the Balmera.

Then he looks away for a second and suddenly Lance and Nyma are gone.

It'd almost give Hunk a grim sense of satisfaction that Nyma stole the Blue Lion and left Lance tied to a tree if he wasn't so mad. He's glad that Keith rescues the Blue Lion and flies off to collect Lance before Hunk is given the chance.

Lance walks sheepishly out of Blue as they all touch down in the castle hangars, shuffling awkwardly to where Hunk is waiting and leaving the others to go on ahead.

Keith pauses and looks back at them, but Hunk waves him off and he gives a confused smile before following Pidge and Shiro.

When they're alone Lance finally meets Hunk's gaze.

"Hunk, I'm sorry," he says wincing.

"Lance," Hunk says, reaching for Lance's hand and intertwining their fingers, "you know how much I care about you right?"

Lance lets out a long exhale, shaky and uncertain, but as he settles himself his lips pull themselves upwards.

"Yeah," he squeezes Hunk's hand, "I do."

They start to make their way to the bridge, but Hunk doesn't want to leave anything unsaid.

"Shay is great. She helped us get the crystal and she helped me understand just how awful the empire is, but she's no you."

Lance sniffs and walks closer, nestling himself against Hunk's side. Their armour clinks against each other and it's not the most comfortable position they've ever been in, but Hunk doesn't move away.

"I can't wait to introduce you. She'll love you."

"You don't want to test and see if she could be it?" Lance's voice is small, and Hunk stops them so he can cup Lance's cheek with one hand.

"I'm quite happy where my gloves are, thank you very much."

Lance chuckles wetly and wipes at his eye. He raises one hand to cover Hunk's, their other hands still held between them.

"I shouldn't have let Nyma flirt with me," he says eventually.

"I shouldn't have let Pidge tease me about Shay," Hunk replies, and for all he knows this is serious, he can't help the smile.

"I should be able to laugh stuff like that off," Lance argues, looking away, "I know you. I know this is…"

He trails off and Hunk waits as Lance finds his train of thought.

"It's just sometimes hard to be sure," he continues, " I didn't really care about Nyma, so it felt easier, like I was in control because she couldn't hurt me. I guess even that wasn't true."

"Lance, if I ever done anything to make you feel unwanted-"

"You haven't, I just-"

"I care about you so much."

Lance pauses, then looks at Hunk dead on. As close as they are, Hunk can see pools of water forming in Lance's eye. He leans forward and pecks Lance on the forehead.

"These last few days have been brutal, and I don't think either of us has been thinking particularly clearly. How about after this mission we sleep for 20 hours and then take a day together to reboot ourselves?"

Lance nods, and when Hunk leans forward he meets him halfway. The kiss is short, and when Lance pulls away he's laughing gently.

"Only you would call taking a holiday 'rebooting ourselves'"

Hunk pokes Lance in the shoulder and Lance leans into him as he laughs. They wait a few minutes before joining the others.

True to his word Hunk introduces Lance to Shay as soon as everything's over and they're finally safe. Shay’s smile is big and warm as she grabs Lance's hand in her own.

"I'm glad Hunk has such a wonderful person to share his life with," she says, her voice genuine and Lance blushes a deep red.

"You're just as heroic as Hunk said you were," he replies, before waving them off with a "speaking of which, didn't a certain hunka hunka burning love offer to show you the sky?"

Shay is happily confused and laughs when Lance explains the nickname to her. Hunk pauses just before they head off and Lance insists he has "old Keithy boy to keep me company," slinging an arm over Keith's shoulders.

Keith rolls his eyes at Lance but doesn't pull away. Hunk feels his heart lighten at the sight of his team mates happy and leads Shay into the Yellow Lion.

Shay spends half an hour staring at the stars at open-mouthed wonder. They sit on top of Yellow and enjoy the peace and quiet, the first hours of a free Balmera.

"What was it like when you met Lance?"

Hunk looks over, but Shay's gaze is still drawn skyward. He'd almost think he misheard her, but she glances at him out of the corner of her eye, prompting him to begin.

Hunk smiles at the memory as he tells her the abridged version of the story. The one that ends with a starlight night just like this one. With a mark on his hand to match Lance's. Hunk tells Shay the story he wishes they'd had.

Shay listens intently, her eyes leaving the stars to watch her wrist as he talks, nodding at the important moments.

When the story is done they lapse back into silence. It's warm and familiar. Just before sunrise Shay looks at him with a smile.

"Thank you for honouring your vow to return."

By the time Hunk returns to the castle Lance is sitting in the what they affectionately call the lounge room by himself.

"What happened to ‘old Keithy boy’?" Hunk asks.

"He went to bed," Lance says, standing up with a yawn, "I thought I'd wait for you to get back. Coran said we'd have an extended night cycle before heading out."

Hunk nods and they walk down the corridor hand in hand.

They pause at Lance's door and Lance leans up to kiss him good night.

"Are we still on for tomorrow?" Hunk asks when they break apart.

"You know it babe," Lance says and gives him another peck before heading to bed.

The walk to his own room is all but a haze. Hunk knows he should shower, but he's barely out of his armour before he finds himself face down on his bed with his eyes drifting shut.

It feels like seconds and eons later when they jolt open once more.

The room around him is dark, and his heart is trying and failing to escape his chest and flee. He heaves a breath he didn't realise he was holding and tries to get the image of a bloody and broken Lance out of his mind's eye.

It's not the first time Hunk has had nightmares, but they're usually an uncomfortable feeling and shifting incomprehensible shapes the night before a test, not blind terror at seeing someone he cares about fading away before him.

He'd say it was the realisation of his own mortality, but their team has faced impossible odds before. In the tense silence of his room, Hunk admits it may be a little more personal than that.

After all, Hunk has always knows that he would sacrifice himself to save Lance in a heartbeat. Up until yesterday however, he hadn't truly come to the realisation that he may not have that choice.

If he were at home Hunk would walk out to the garden and ground himself. He'd let the earth sink between his toes and remind him of what's real. If he were at the Garrison he'd at least try and sneak up to the roof to see the sky.

However the Balmera is still mostly unknown to Hunk, and he doesn't want to leave the castle by himself, so instead his legs carry him to the kitchen for a pouch of water. With his legs moving he does feel a little less trapped.

The door opens to reveal one side of the room is still illuminated, highlighting a small figure sitting with a bowl of food goo and staring at a screen.

"Hey Pidge."

She jumps at his voice and Hunk feels a chuckle escape his lips. Pidge rights her glasses and tosses him a tired smile.

"Hey Hunk," she says, turning her gaze back to what she's working on, "busy night, huh?"

"What do you mean?" Hunk asks, retrieving a pouch of water from the cupboard. He sits down at the table across from Pidge and takes a sip.

"Mmm? Oh, Keith was in here a little while ago. Couldn't sleep?"

"Something like that," Hunk says resting his head on one hand, "what are you working on?"

Pidge's face morphs into a solid grin as she turns the laptop screen to face him. He knows before he sees it that it must be something cool. Pidge generally works on Voltron related projects during the day and leaves her passion projects for the wee small hours.

The laptop screen shows a series of schematics for what look like slightly off-kilter vehicles.

"Reconfiguring the training room system so we can play real life Mario Kart."

Pidge's wicked grin is infectious.

"Do you reckon we could convince Allura it was some sort of Earth training exercise?" Hunk asks.

Pidge laughs.

"I reckon if we called it ‘team bonding’ we could get her on board."

"Want some help?"

"Sure. I’m going to turn in pretty soon, but we should have some time after take off tomorrow if you want to work on it then?"

"I'm having a date day with Lance tomorrow. Day after maybe?"

"Sounds good."

Pidge packs up her things and bids him a sleepy good night. Hunk finishes off the water, still smiling. The rest of his dreams that night are of the team laughing and riding wacky vehicles around a virtual track.

* * *

 

Keith seems different after the castle goes “apple and bananas” as Lance describes it.

At first Hunk had thought Keith was just scared of it happening again. For all that fighting food goo and having the gravity shut itself off was a harrowing experience, Lance's story about the gladiator tells him that Lance and Keith were in very real danger that night. Even before the corrupted AI almost drove them into an exploding star.

Lance refuses to go anywhere near the airlocks when he's not wearing his paladin armour, and Hunk feels nervous around the food goo dispenser and avoids it when he can. But Keith goes straight back to his regular training schedule, merely shrugging when Pidge asks him about it. He fights the gladiator with the same offhandedness he's always had, the same easy grace.

Hunk scarcely believes it, so he sneaks in to watch him one day. Keith is battling the gladiator at a higher level than he was before the castle turned against them.

For all intents and purposes it seems like Keith was wholly unaffected by the whole experience. Or rather it would, if Keith wasn't skirting around him and Lance the way he should be avoiding the training bots.

He averts his eyes more when Hunk smiles at him. He rises to Lance's baits more easily, throwing out insults where he once would have laughed it off or simply looked away.

Hunk tries to talk to him about it but Keith says he needs to train. Lance frowns at him as he leaves.

They're left alone again. Pidge is working in the hangars and Shiro, Allura and Coran are plotting the course to the next planet.

Hunk hadn't realised how much time he spends with just Lance and Keith until Keith had started avoiding them.

Lance settles beside him as he sits down. Hunk pulls out a book that Allura recommended and Lance reads along over his shoulder. They sit in silence for about twenty doboshes, before Lance shifts and clears his throat.

"I think Keith hates me."

Hunk looks over to see Lance meeting his gaze with serious eyes.

"I'm sure he doesn't," Hunk says.

"He hasn't said a kind word to me since the incident with the airlock."

Hunk may be immensely fond of Lance, but even he can see when Lance is being unfair.

"You haven't exactly been nice to him since we got up here you know?"

Lance looks like he wants to protest, but thinks better of it at the last minute. His hand drums an anxious beat across his knee. Hunk covers it with his own.

"You know, when you were injured he sat outside your pod with me all night," Hunk says.

Lance looks at him with an incredulous look.

"Really?"

"I swear on Voltron."

"I mean, he was probably just doing it to keep you company-"

Hunk cuts him off before Lance can go down a self-deprecating path.

"He was there before he knew I was going to stay, and he looked like he was settling in."

Lance sits in silence for a moment. When he speaks again his voice is small and far more hopeful than it has any right to be.

"He was?"

Hunk nods and Lance shifts so that he's leaning against Hunk's shoulder. Lance sits in contemplative silence and Hunk doesn't push the issue.

He knows Lance has looked up to Keith as a pilot for a long time. He squashes down the unfamiliar feeling in his chest. It’s not jealousy, but he decides to label it as such. It feels a lot more positive than what Hunk felt when he saw Lance with Nyma, but Hunk can’t think of any reason why it should.

Perhaps because he trusts Keith where he didn’t Nyma. Perhaps because Lance’s admiration has never passed into flirtation. If Hunk were hypothesizing the cause, they’d both be good contenders. But neither of them feel quite right.  

He turns the page of his book and tries to regain his focus.

* * *

 

Keith's distance doesn't get better. As the missions get harder and Zarkon seems to be putting more and more of his energy into finding and capturing Voltron, Keith retreats. He still joins them for training sessions and meals, but he spends more and more of his time training or reading by himself. Once or twice, Hunk finds Keith staring out a window at the stars, drawing something in his notebook and looking lost.

The first time, Hunk walked over with the intention of joining him, trying to see if he would talk if the rest of the team weren't there. He wasn't expecting the easy comradery they had the night outside of Lance's pod, but he also didn't expect Keith to slam the notebook shut like he'd been caught doing something he shouldn't. He'd made small talk with Hunk for a few minutes, but then he'd stood up, saying he'd suddenly remembered some vague task that Allura had wanted him to complete.

Now Allura is gone, captured on what should have been a fairly routine information gathering mission, and Keith doesn't seem to want to get her back.

He stands apart from all of them, again, saying that he wants them to think logically. Saying that saving one prisoner isn't worth the risk of losing Voltron if they should fail. If Hunk was thinking more clearly, he would have pointed out that Allura was the only one that could pilot the ship and create wormholes, and they'd be sitting ducks without her anyway, but something about the way that Keith is so willing to leave one of them behind cuts deep, deeper than expected.

"What if it was one of us? What if it was me? Would you vote to leave me behind?"

It slips out of his mouth before Hunk really has a chance to think about it. Keith stares at him for a moment, and Hunk almost thinks he can read something in his eyes, but he looks away without answering. It's answer enough.

Then Lance calls Keith selfish and the entire conversation devolves from there.

In the end they do go, because it's five against one. As soon as they get there Keith seems determined to get himself killed by trying to take on Zarkon single-handedly, and Hunk is the one who blasts a hole in the main Galra cruiser to rescue the princess.

The first thing she does is berate them for bringing Voltron to the Galra central command, and Hunk files away that he really needs to sit both her and Keith down for a talk on teamwork and self-sacrifice when this whole thing blows over.

However, before he even gets the chance to think Haggar is corrupting their wormhole, and the entire team is flung haphazardly across the galaxy, further proof that they simply cannot catch a break.

Hunk is eternally thankful that he ended up on the same planet as Lance. He doesn't think he could take the pain of not knowing if Lance was alive or dead on top of everything else, although the worry for his other teammates comes closer than he would have thought.

The planet is inhabited by friendly-seeming mermaids, which makes Lance more excited than Hunk thinks he's ever seen him. At first it seems like the biggest issue Hunk will face is keeping the overly-friendly mermaids off his excitable soulmate.

The queen welcomes them eagerly and for a few hours being stranded on this planet is almost a respite. One full of worry for their team and work to try and get off the planet, but at least one without any direct threats on their life.

Of course, the universe is always out to prove Hunk wrong.

Most of what happens after that first night is a blur. Hunk remembers the food, the entertainment and not much else until Lance blows some sort of fish onto his face and his head clears. He's right up close to Lance, he can't remember how he got there, and when he tries to ask Lance what's going on the reply doesn't make much sense either.

"Hunk, you've been mind-controlled by the queen and you're trying to kill me."

By the time the sentence makes its way through Hunk's still sluggish speech processing channel he's realised they have bigger problems to handle. But when it's all over, when they're back on the castleship and the relief of seeing all of his teammates safe and sound has spread over him, Hunk has only one thing on his mind.

He tried to kill Lance.

Hunk has always known that he's bigger than Lance. It's not exactly a well-kept secret. Training has well established that he's stronger than Lance too, although Lance is swifter on his feet and a brilliant strategist even under the tightest of scenarios.

Hunk had never really given it much thought. It didn't matter which one of them would win in a fight, because they'd never use their skills against each other. Hunk would only use his strength to protect Lance, never to harm him.

But he'd eaten some weird alien plant and suddenly his mind wasn't his own. If it hadn't been for Lance's quick thinking and outside help, Hunk could have very seriously hurt him.

Hunk could have killed Lance without a second thought, and he never would have known.

Lance, for his part, acts for all the world as if none of this has happened. He leans against Hunk easily as they exit their lions, and he gives him a goodnight kiss before they go to their rooms. Hunk doesn't sleep. He doesn't even try.

The dark side of his subconscious has gotten creative with the thought of him hurting Lance, and it puts on a show whenever he closes his eyes. It's always in third person, and Hunk has no control. He's screaming at his body to stop, but it's not following his orders.

Hunk can't even tell if he's falling into microsleeps, or if his brain is just advanced enough to torture him in the time it takes to blink.

He wanders around the ship aimlessly, craving company, but unsure where to find it. Even Pidge seems to have gone to sleep after her day in the trash nebula, and Hunk soon finds the kitchen boring without the Mario Kart schematics or Pidge's wild exclamations at both success and failure.

Eventually Hunk pauses, and then on a hunch he heads back towards the room with the cryopods. Sure enough Keith is there, leaning up against one of the pods and reading the same book Hunk finished a few days ago.

"Hunk, I didn't expect to see you here," Keith says by way of greeting. He looks startled by Hunk's presence, but for once he doesn't immediately try and run away.

"You sat outside Lance's pod with me, I figured I'd return the favour."

Keith smiles, but it looks slightly guilty.

"That wasn't really why…" he trails off, and he touches his left wrist as if on reflex as he looks away.

"Oh right, it was because you ‘bonded’" Hunk says, with an exaggerated tone he hopes Keith will take to mean he's joking.

Keith laughs, but it sounds hollow, and Hunk pats him on the shoulder to say he doesn't mean it.

"I dunno, I thought we were becoming friends or something and then he just-"

Keith cuts himself off mid-sentence and stares at nothing.

"I love Lance with all my heart, but he can do that sometimes," Hunk agrees, hoping to put Keith at ease.

Keith's expression shifts, but Hunk can't really tell whether it's for better or worse. He decides to change the subject to something more safe.

"You knew Shiro back at the Garrison, right?"

"Yeah," Keith says, smiling up at the pod, "I transferred there early, after my Dad disappeared, and he always looked out for me. He gave me tips for dealing with the other students and the frustration of being kept in first form until I was old enough. He was like the big brother I'd never had. And then he was gone."

Hunk hums.

"You got him back though," he says.

"Yeah," Keith agrees, "we did."

Their discussion moves to less personal matters as the night wears on. They talk about the book Keith is reading, their favourite type of cereal and the cartoons they watched as kids. Hunk learns that Keith apparently has no firm opinion one way or the other about pineapple on pizza, and laughs Hunk off when he says he has to pick a side.

This time Hunk goes to get them breakfast. Lance looks at him a little oddly as he wanders out of the kitchen, but he resumes his conversation with Pidge. The entire team is there to meet Shiro when he comes out of the pod, and Allura and Coran give them the day off while the castle runs diagnostics to ensure there are no carry-over effects from Haggar's magic.

Hunk and Lance spend the day making a set of homemade playing cards from some spare cardboard Coran found for them. The cards are far from perfect, and Hunk is pretty sure that they lost the three of clubs somewhere along the way, but they both get way too into Blackjack and Old Maid and the afternoon passes far more quickly than expected.

At one point Keith wanders in, and rather than turn and walk straight back out, he actually stops and asks what they're doing. Hunk deals him into the game, and he and Lance get into a heated debate over what constitutes a house rule in Cheat, and what rules just come with the game.

Hunk finds it easy, amongst the laughing and squabbling, to ignore the persistent voice in his head telling him that he almost hurt Lance, but as the day wears thin and he grows more tired, his worry gets stronger.

Lance must have noticed, because when they're all headed to bed he doesn't kiss Hunk goodnight outside of his room, instead he takes Hunk's hand and leads him inside, before asking him what's wrong.

Hunk tries to brush the question off, but Lance is insistent and his face is set. Eventually, Hunk breathes a sigh.

"I almost hurt you."

Lance looks confused.

"What? When?"

"When I was under the Baku's control. I could have killed you."

"You were under the control of a crazy psychic plant. I'm not going to hold that against you babe."

Hunk shakes his head.

"It doesn't matter. I was trying to kill you Lance, and now whenever I close my eyes that's all I can see."

Lance's expression softens and he reaches out. Hunk can't help but flinch, and Lance pauses, his hand an inch from Hunk’s skin.

"Hunk, I'm sure if push came to shove and we'd had one of the climaxes from those movies Veronica loves so much, where you had me pinned down and I was screaming at you to remember me, even through the mind control, I believe with all my heart you would have snapped out of it.

"If it was me being controlled, you know I'd do the same for you, right?"

Hunk wipes at his eyes and tries to speak, but he's all choked up.

He still doesn't touch Lance, but when Lance asks if he wants a hug he manages a shaky nod. He leans his head near Lance's chest slowly and gently, making sure he exerts no pressure, but Lance puts a hand behind him and moves his head so that he's snuggled in closer.

"I trust you Hunk. Completely and absolutely. You would never do anything to hurt me."

Lance holds Hunk in a one-way embrace until his sobs dry out.

* * *

 

Back at home, Hunk had always been the engineer of his house. He'd watched his mother work once, fixing car engines amidst the hustle and bustle of her shop, hair pulled back into a ponytail and grease stains on her overalls, and he'd been enraptured. He'd started reading up on cars and engines like many other kids his age, but he soon became frustrated with the lack of opportunity this presented to get his hands dirty.

His parents had responded to this by buying him robotics kits, and he'd put the pieces together like Lego, all but throwing away the instructions and combining all the different kits he could find into a Frankenstein creation that was greater than the sum of its parts. The robots were fun to code once they were done, but he'd find his fingers itching, dragging him away from his keyboard to the next project, back to the hardware, back to what he loved.

When Hunk had found out about the Galaxy Garrison, his heart had all but leapt out of his throat. He'd always assumed that he'd have to wait to university to find other people who were like him, interested in engineering and building and making something out of limited parts and determination.

When his mother had shown him the pamphlet, she'd pointed to the outline study plan, with an expectant grin. There, in fine print was a paragraph explaining that students who maintained a certain ‘standard of excellence’ were invited to replace many of the courses in their final semester with a self-driven project. The project was designed to test their skills in aerospace engineering under the guidance of one of the senior instructors. Hunk had pulled the pamphlet into his lap and read the paragraph over and over, hope springing in his chest.

He'd always assumed he'd spend his senior year of high school still surrounded by people who couldn't care less about the things he loved, sleeping through AP physics he'd taught himself back in the eighth grade. Instead, he could be building things under the guidance of some of the greatest minds in the country, all while part of a program that would be  a gold star on any college application. It had seemed unbelievable, like fate. It had seemed too good to possibly be true.

For the last two years, while Lance had been studying and striving for his place as a fighter pilot, Hunk had been working towards the engineering project. He’d bothered every professor about the requirements, what they based their decisions on. He knew that spots are limited, and was determined not to be caught unawares.

Fortunately, he learned that the group simulations aren't considered in choosing the invitees. Hunk strove for perfection in those courses to ensure that Lance looked good for his own applications, but he studied day and night in his theoretical and technical subjects for himself.

Hunk received his invitation to take part in the project two weeks before he was sucked into space. For all that he knows the universe is at stake, sometimes Voltron feels like a consolation prize.

Perhaps that's why he's so excited by the notion of a planet full of engineers, of people making amazing breakthroughs in technology with their ingenuity and skill.

Hunk wants to try out their technology sure, but more than that he wants to take it apart and discover its secrets. He wants to explore it with every one of his senses so that he might one day be able to reverse-engineer it. He wants to know how a weapons system based entirely on plants even functions, he wants to know how the internal power is generated. He wants to know how this technology operates.

But instead Ryner tells them to put on some headbands and focus on the super advanced, alien equivalent of pressing a power button.

Hunk can feel the mech suit connect to his mind easily, but he can't bring himself to shift his mind to the cockpit and turn on the controls. He tries several times, but as he moves through the system he has to stop and admire the wiring from his mind's eye, he has to follow what he thinks are the power lines, he has to examine the pump system that pushes the quintessence through the limbs like a heartbeat.

The mech suit is built from trees and anatomy and machines and Hunk could spend a thousand years with his eyes shut, examining the system from the inside out and still have an endless list of questions to answer.

Ryner's voice cuts through him, breaking his concentration. His connection severs, and she tells them to focus. Hunk tries not to roll his eyes, before he shuts them and tries again. This time he gets almost to the controls, before he notices that where he would expect an exhaust port instead there’s an input valve, as if the mech is drawing outside air into itself. He follows the airflow until he reaches a complex filtration system, and looks closer, to try and see what it might be extracting from the air.

His vision zooms in but maintains perfect clarity, and Hunk is reminded how much he loves this planet. How much he would pay to get an internship here when this Voltron thing is done. Do the Olkari even have internships? Or are they just trained from birth for these kinds of jobs?

On closer inspection the filter seems to have a similar makeup to an oxygen compressor, although he has no idea why the system would want to draw in concentrated oxygen-

Ryner's voice cuts him off again, and he tries to hold onto the connection for just a little longer, just long enough to work out what the mech is doing with all that oxygen, before he's back to standing in a clearing. Lance and Keith are standing beside him while Pidge looks down at him from one of the mech suits.

They're split between the mechs and Ryner makes some disappointed remark about their lack of connection to the suits.

Really, Hunk thinks she should be praising his dedication to the mission, as all of his concentration is currently focused on ensuring that the connection he can feel building up behind his eyes to the mech Ryner is currently operating remains severed.

He doesn't want to go rooting around its hardware while they have something important to do, although the mysteries within it call to him, beg him to come and solve them. He promises himself that he'll ask Ryner about it as soon as the mission is over.

He does, and she looks at him with raised eyebrows before she tells him that she doesn't know. Before she was the leader of the resistance she worked in the information processing center, devising algorithms for optimal quintessence flow through the giant systems controlling Olkarion's weather patterns.

 _She's a software engineer_ , Hunk thinks with a sigh, _no wonder she and Pidge get on so well._

However, Ryner does introduce him to Haxlan, the lead biomechanical engineer on the team who created the mech bots. Haxlan seems thrilled to hear that one of the paladins of Voltron is interested in what they've created.

They take Hunk on an interactive mind meld of the mech, showing him the different parts and explaining how the concentrated oxygen is later stored and compressed and is used to provide the pilot with oxygen if fighting underwater, or else is infused with the mech bot's own quintessence and used to light flaming projectiles which will not damage the forest itself.

Even with the guided tour Hunk still has more questions than he has time for answers. Haxlan gives Hunk his contact frequency, a copy of the mech's specs and the promise that if Hunk ever finishes his work as a paladin their team would be thrilled to have him on board.

 _For a consolation prize_ , Hunk thinks as the team leave the system, his eyes pouring over the specs like they did that Galaxy Garrison brochure all those years ago, _it's not a bad one_.

* * *

 

Keith is part Galra. He treats the fact like it should change something.

And to Allura, it does. It's not surprising really, given that the Galra destroyed her planet and killed all of her people. Hunk knows that she's just taking a little while to come around. He thinks that's all it is anyway, and he can't blame her. At the same time though, he also knows that none of this is Keith's fault.

Hunk can't find it in himself to care what percentage of Keith's blood is from what alien species, he just wants to see Keith smile again.

He's almost glad when the team is separated into the small teams, because he thinks it'll be good for Keith to have some time without everyone watching in order to process what's happened. He's definitely happy to hear that they're teaming up. He hopes that he might be able to reassure Keith that he's still part of the team, that they still care for him just as much as they used to.

It still doesn't make separating from the rest of his team mates any easier though. Hunk grasps on to Pidge's hands to say goodbye, but his eyes don't well with tears until he looks at Lance. Lance, who he wants to draw into his arms more than anything, but who the back of his mind is still convinced he will hurt if he steps too close.

Lance understands, though. When Hunk and Pidge finally part Lance steps into Hunk's arms himself and presses his lips against Hunk's firmly. A promise of his return.

"Be safe," he says.

"You too."

He pecks Hunk on the lips once more and grins.

"I have Blue, Pidge and Shiro to watch my back. I'll be fine," he says and winks, "you take care of our boy wonder over there won't you?"

Lance waves at Keith over Hunk's shoulder, and he manages to draw a laugh from Hunk's lips.

"I will."

And Hunk intends to. It's a little worrying that their mission involves going through the belly of a giant Weblum though. Particularly given that they're in the Yellow Lion, and so the burden of performing death defying manoeuvres around the Weblum and ensuring they all come home safe falls to Hunk, the engineer who's been flying for less than six months and not Keith, best pilot of his generation and golden child of the Galaxy Garrison.

Keith, for his part, seems intent to stay on task, he doesn't waver for a moment. All of the friendliness, all of the banter they've built up over the last few months has evaporated.

Then Keith all but pushes Hunk aside for some random Galra he's just found.

Hunk knows that Keith's viewpoint is fragile, he needs to believe that good Galra exist, that villainy isn't written in his DNA. As such, Hunk doesn't advise against teaming up with someone they just met. It's such a Keith plan it's almost endearing.

By the time Hunk has managed to distract the Weblum for long enough for Keith to collect the scultrite (almost getting himself killed in the process, but as a part of team Voltron that basically comes with the territory) Keith's new ‘friend’ has gone, with some of their hard earned scultrite to boot. Still, they have more than enough for the teleduv they're building, so Hunk can't really complain.

Keith seems more settled on the way back. Perhaps, after feeling lost for so long, he just needed a win. Hunk opens his mouth to congratulate him on a job well done, but apparently at the last minute his mouth decides to undo all their progress instead.

He calls 'Galra Keith' funny. He'd been trying to reiterate that Keith, the one who told Hunk jokes while they were sitting outside Lance's pod, is the same as he ever was, Galra or no.

Of course, he has to say it in the worst way possible, and Keith is offended at the implication that he'd somehow turned Galra. Hunk, for some reason decided that the solution to this was to open his mouth and stick his foot right in there.

Hunk makes jokes when he's nervous. And the knowledge that he doesn't know how to make things easier for Keith makes him nervous. The jokes just cement this knowledge and the cycle continues.

He tries to make up for it later by deliberately including Keith when Allura excludes him from her praise. Keith doesn't say anything during the meeting, but afterwards he runs after Hunk and grabs him by the elbow.

"Thanks for that," he says.

"Anytime buddy," Hunk says, "you know it doesn't change anything for the rest of us right? And Allura will get used to it with time."

For the first time since he returned from the Blade of Marmora's base, Hunk sees Keith smile.

* * *

 

There are so many variables that have to go right, down to the letter, for this plan to work.

For the first time, Hunk thinks he can understand Slav's way of thinking; the probabilities of survival dwindle further and further as the complexity grows. They have miniscule chances of everything going right. In all the multiverse there are probably only a handful of realities where they come close to succeeding.

It would take a miracle.

Not to mention that Murphy's Law seems to have a particular interest in this plan. Keith has trouble with the bomb. Zarkon almost regains control of the Black Lion, and Allura had to board the Galra central command ship to divert Haggar's attention away from Voltron.

Despite it all, for one sweet second it had seemed like Zarkon was dead and all of them were safe and sound. Right up until Shiro didn't answer his comms.

As soon as they touch down in the castle Hunk sees Keith sprinting sprinting across the hangar, racing towards the unresponsive heap of the Black Lion. Hunk is only a few steps behind, and the rest of the team materialise around him, until they're all standing at the door of the cockpit with baited breath.

The door slides open to an empty chair.

And part of Hunk wants to scream - because they'd come so close. They'd come so far and done so much. They'd risked everything so many times. They'd resisted, seven strong against a galactic empire that had been standing for longer than humans had been domesticating cats.

They'd deserved a miracle.

Perhaps the worst part is that the universe doesn't stop demanding miracles of them. The team is falling apart at the seams, Keith scouring every edge of the observable universe for Shiro, Pidge pouring over millions of Galran logs for her brother. Two parallel searches for needles in ever-expanding haystacks.

Hunk and Lance pick up the slack where they can. They've grown enough in their training that they can manage with the Blade what once would have taken the entire team. But the aliens they save, for all that they are grateful, want more than Hunk and Lance can give.

They want Voltron. They get his feet.

They hold the alien's requests at bay for as long as they can, but eventually they grow too loud for Allura to ignore. She says that they can't put off forming Voltron any longer. Keith storms out. What feels like minutes later, they're all standing before the Black Lion, waiting to see who it will choose.

Hunk had been the one to point out that technically he had called dibs on the Black Lion in their early days of training. It was fifty percent actual interest, fifty percent annoyance that no one else seemed to consider him a valid option. But now that he's sitting in the pilot's chair, he feels a familiar sense of homesickness.

Not for Earth, but for his lion. Sometimes Yellow  feels like a grounding force beneath his feet, making him feel stronger than stone. At other times it's the long, slow descent of soil becoming sediment becoming Earth, being drawn in to the world, with his anxieties lingering without him on the surface. Either way, Yellow always feels like home.

He doesn't want to leave his home again.

He sits in the Black Lion for a few minutes, but keeps his mind deliberately closed. On the one hand, being leader might mean that the team finally listens to his advice (like Nyma and Rolo, hello? He has never been so clearly the only one on the ship with an ounce of healthy distrust). However, giving up the Yellow Lion feels like an insurmountable sacrifice.

He likes being safe and grounded. Some days it's the only thing that gets him through.

There's also the thought that if he's not there to be the leg of Voltron, to ground the team, he can't immediately decide who will. However, Hunk could imagine pretty much any of them stepping up to pilot the Black Lion at this point. Each would lead the team in a different direction, but Hunk can't see any disasters in their future, no matter who the Black Lion chooses.

It chooses Keith, surprising no one.

Or, perhaps surprising Lance. He seems mildly devastated by the whole thing, but he soon puts his personal feelings aside for the sake of the team. Hunk feels pride swell up in his chest on Lance's behalf.

In the end they have not only a new pilot for the Black Lion, but Blue and Red as well. But there's no time to even focus on it, because suddenly they have a new greatest threat as well, Lotor leading them on a cat and mouse chase they wouldn't be ready for as a full, strong team, let alone cut and divided as they are.

They try and form Voltron, but it doesn't feel right. Like everyone is still trying to slot into their old places. Even when they finally click there's still a slight drag, like there was right at the start. Hunk hadn’t realised how much of a hindrance it was until they’d lived without it.

They land back in the hangars, and Hunk is all but ready to fall down. He wants to sleep for 12 hours, longer if his body will let him. Lance leans against him as they walk and in his tired state his anxiety barely spikes. His mind flashes some images of mermaids and himself mind controlled, but he knows, deep down he's no threat to Lance or anyone else in this state.

Keith is walking beside them, his face haggard and his feet all but dragging. Allura looks far more poised than any of them, but Hunk can see from the bags under her eyes that it's years of princess training keeping her back straight, rather than a lack of exhaustion. She's frowning, and tapping a finger against her chin as she walks.

"We could really use some team bonding," Allura says, more to herself than anyone else.

Pidge pops up from behind her, as if summoned. She grins at Hunk like Allura's statement is a personal request, and it makes her looks far more exuberant than Hunk knows she must be feeling. Hunk looks at her for a moment, but when he some vague recollection of shouts of triumph two days ago when they’d finished their project, although in his current state it feels like an age. He grins back.

"I think we can help with that," Pidge says.

* * *

 

Hunk veers left to avoid the banana peel Pidge throws behind her, and returns the favour with a green shell aimed right at her kart. It hits dead on, and her safety bubble deploys before her kart flips over in an exaggerated overplay of a video game animation and she comes to a stop.

She curses Hunk as he zooms past her, and he throws her a wave over his shoulder. She loudly declares her quest for vengeance and he laughs.

He doesn't mean to be petty, but she hit with a blue shell the last time he was in the lead, so he feels justified.

He takes a second to glance at the number projected onto the side of his helmet's display. He's currently in third place, right behind Keith and Lance.

Both of them are on bullet bikes, unsurprisingly sacrificing handling for speed, but Hunk thinks that their strategy can't be all that superior, if he's almost caught up to them in his standard kart.

Allura is only a couple of kart lengths behind him, and Pidge is starting to catch up, despite her earlier setback. Coran is convinced that his kart is out to get him because he keeps falling off the mushrooms and into the pit below. He's still on his first lap, cursing his kart wheel and how different it is to Altean steering. Hunk wouldn't be surprised if Allura is somehow using her Altean magic to avoid similar setbacks.

Hunk had asked Pidge specifically for this level to be included in the training regime. It was always his favourite growing up, he'd loved bouncing from mushroom to mushroom, using the trajectories of each jump to give himself an advantage over his competitors.

He uses this skill again now, as they enter what the holographic projector makes look like a cave, a path of giant mushrooms the only thing separating them from a black drop into nothingness. Hunk jumps from one to the other with ease, twisting his wheel this way and that each time he's airborne, grinning when his kart does a stunt and grants him a burst of speed.

Up ahead he can see that the mushrooms diverge into two separate paths for a short while, before converging once more.

Lance and Keith each take one of the paths, hitting each mushroom in unison, before its time to converge. Hunk sees it almost in slow motion, two bikes, one red one blue, colliding in mid-air. Some invisible calculation of speed and trajectory must deem the blue bike unworthy, and Lance bounces off Keith's bike and is thrown into the pit below.

"Damn you Keith!" He yells as he falls, and then "Hunk, avenge my death!"

In reality his safety bubble deploys and his bike hits the training room floor with a cushioned thud, but the system to pick up his bike and put it back at the start of the cave means that he's all but out of the race.

"I'm on it babe!" Hunk calls back, happy to raise the tension in what is probably the least serious training session they've had since they were thrown into space.

The bursts of speed he's been getting from each jump mean that he hits solid ground only a few seconds behind Keith. They both speed around the corner and past the finish line, when one of the mice flies past on a cloud, indicating that this is the last lap.

Hunk makes good on his promise, never taking his foot off the accelerator in an attempt to catch up to Keith. He closes the gap slowly but surely, until they’re neck and neck.

Keith grins over at him as they enter the same cave of mushrooms again. They each take one path, the number projecting in the corner of Hunk's field of vision flickers between a one and two with every stunt and jump. They're just about to rejoin a single path when Hunk hears Lance's voice shouting from a way back.

"Second place babe!"

Hunk responds immediately, kicking his foot off the gas just long enough for Keith to jump onto the path before Hunk. Hunk has already gotten ready to swerve around him when a blue shell flies at him out of nowhere.

Lance whoops, as Keith's bike flips over in an exaggerated animation, and Hunk zips ahead unopposed.

"That's called payback Mullet!"

From then one it's almost too easy to cross the finish line first, followed by Allura, Pidge, Keith and then Lance. Coran almost sighs with relief when the simulation flashes off, and they're all left standing in the middle of the training room.

Lance runs up to Hunk with a joyous shout and Hunk doesn't think before he's picked up Lance and is spinning around with him in his arms. When his brain does drop an anvil on his chest, berates him for getting too close, its effect is somewhat mitigated by Lance's laughter.

He puts Lance down, and Lance snakes one hand up to his cheek.

"See?" Lance whispers into his ear, "I'm perfectly safe in your arms."

When they pull apart Pidge and Allura are already going through her tablet, looking for another track. Hunk notices that Keith is staring at him and Lance with red cheeks, as if distracted.

"Hey, no hard feelings right bud?" Hunk asks, and Keith seems to shake himself out of it.

"What? No," Keith smiles at them, cheeks reddening further, and he seems only a little surprised when Lance throws an arm over his shoulder.

"All's fair in love and Mario Kart," Lance says, using his spare arm to grab Hunk's hand, "that's what Luis always says anyway. Although next game I'm going for gold, no offence babe."

Hunk smiles and threads their fingers together. The way a smile engulfs Lance's face is worth it for the voice in the back of his head.

"I wouldn't have it any other way," Hunk says, "maybe this time I'll team up with Keith?"

"Rude."

"All's fair in love and Mario Kart babe."

Keith is looking between them, following the conversation but saying nothing. Lance's arm is still slung over his shoulder and Keith is leaning into it rather than away.

Hunk's heart softens at the sight. Contentment looks good on Keith, and although it sounds strange even to his own mind, Keith and Lance look good together.

There's also no small amount of comfort in the familiar gesture between them. There's no way he could possibly hurt Lance with Keith so close. Or any of their teammates really. He has nothing to fear from the Baku, not here.

"Are you guys ready?" Pidge calls from across the room.

"You bet! What are we playing?"

Pidge just grins, and Hunk feels a sudden onslaught of trepidation. Allura is beside her, and they both begin to laugh in unison, giving their best supervillain impression. Coran pokes his head out from behind them and throws Hunk a worried look.

"Rainbows…" Coran says, "they're usually considered pleasant on your planet? Right?"

* * *

 

Of course, with the good days comes the bad.

The planet of Ceroxia could have been a picture perfect foil for the Balmera, a part two, a victory lap. It was a planet built off the back of distinct sections of space debris, held together and maintained by the roots of a colossal tree, which provided the atmosphere and all of the sustenance for the creatures inhabiting tunnels in the rock carved out by its roots. The Galra were mining the tree for its quintessence, but they were greedy, siphoning off too much for the Ceroxia to replenish itself.

The planet's citizens had mere hours to evacuate when Voltron arrived on the scene.

They'd done all they could, but it wasn't enough. The Galra had anticipated them and had placed bombs systematically throughout the Ceroxia's root system, set to explode just as they were helping the Ceroxians load supplies into their ship.

Allura had tried to use her Altean magic to give the Ceroxia strength to stabilise itself. She'd given them maybe an extra hour before she'd collapsed, completely spent, but one of the Galra's command ships was waiting just outside the atmosphere with an ion cannon ready, and undid all her work in a matter of seconds. Coran had carried her into the Castle in his arms, shouting directions to the Ceroxians as he went. The rest of the team had loaded all the Ceroxians they could into the Castle and their lions, and then they'd fled.

There had still been Ceroxians on the planet when they'd gone. Mostly the elderly, who'd wanted to stay on the planet that had sustained them all their lives, or given up their spot on the transports to ensure others survived.

The Galra had pursued them as they'd tried to escape, almost capturing the Green Lion in the process. Coran had to use what residual energy the ship had to wormhole them away from the system, and the Black and Yellow lions carried the Blue Lion between them through the wormhole, as Allura lay unresponsive in a healing pod in the Castle.

When they eventually touch down, Hunk sees Pidge clamber down the Green Lion's ramp, knees all but buckling underneath her as she tries to show the few Ceroxians on her ship where to go.

Her words are indecipherable and even the translation software she wrote herself is returning a jumbled mess from what she's saying.

Hunk sees one of the Ceroxians lean forward, either to ask a question or provide comfort and she breaks. The little composure she had left snaps like a twig and she falls to her knees. As Hunk rushes over, he hears frantic apologies breaking through her tears.  

He bends down and picks her up, surprised by how light she is. Sometimes he forgets just how young Pidge is, in a normal world she'd be a freshman in high school, probably with a backpack larger than she is and a haircut she'll be embarrassed by in ten years.

Sometimes Hunk forgets just how young all of them are.

He supports Pidge's back with one hand and she clings to his neck, legs wrapped around his stomach in a sort of backwards piggyback. He files away piggyfront to tell Lance later, when it has the possibility of making either of them smile.

Hunk turns to the Ceroxians still awaiting his instructions and tries to smile, but he can't find the strength. Lance stands next to him and takes his free hand.

"Coran said that everyone is congregating in the main hall for now," he says, "we'll help you find your families and then we'll provide blankets and food and whatever else you need. If you'd please follow me."

When he starts leading Hunk out of the room, the Ceroxians follow. They find Keith already there, directing those looking for family members to one side of the room, and those currently in the process of reunions to the other. He looks out of his depth, and the relief on his face when he sees them is palpable.

He runs up to them, and looks unsure before his composure breaks and he clings to Lance and Hunk for a long moment, one hand around each of their biceps. Lance pats him on the back, and he takes a long breath before stepping away.

"We need to find blankets and food. Coran is in the cryopod chamber helping those who are injured. Two of us should probably go and prepare things while the other two stay here and …" Keith trails off, gesturing to the room in a bewildered way.

"Pidge is-" Hunk starts, but Pidge cuts him off.

"I'm feeling a lot better Hunk, thank you."

Pidge shifts in Hunk's arms and he slowly puts her down. She wobbles a bit, but manages to stay upright, and he lets her go.

"How about you and Pidge go and gather the supplies," Lance says, deducing that a concrete task is the cure for their lost expressions, "Hunk and I can deal with things here."

Keith nods, and as they leave the room, he places a hand on Lance's forearm and mouths the words "thank you" at him.

Lance shrugs in response, but his smile is starting to look a little less put on and a little more genuine.

The next few hours are all but a blur, talking to the Ceroxians, helping them find their families in the swarm of people and distributing the supplies that Keith and Pidge drop off. Hunk leads families with young children to private rooms as Keith and Pidge prepare them, and breaks up grumbling and complaints before any real anger can spark.

It's something like 6am when everyone has been fed and has somewhere to sleep, some in the main hall, others elsewhere. Keith comes by with a schedule for manning the cryopod chamber and keeping watch around the clock.

They're in a fairly safe system, and can only hope that Allura will wake before the Galra find them.

By some miracle, she does. It takes four days. Hunk could probably count on one hand the number of times he sees his team mates during these four days.

Allura is barely standing when she opens a wormhole. No one knows where to go, not even Allura, but when they exit the wormhole Hunk's eyebrows raise at the familiar sight of the Balmera. It feels like a cruel joke, taking the residents of a planet they couldn't save to one of the planets they could.

Shay is at the head of the envoy to greet them. She welcomes them with open arms, but her smile falls as she sees how bad of a condition they're all in.

Allura insists on being at the front of their own delegation. She walks with slow and deliberate steps, concentrating on each footfall. She lacks her usual grace, and Shay steadies her as she stumbles off the ramp.

"It is good to see you all," Shay says, "but I feel something is wrong."

"We have almost 500 refugees with us from a planet destroyed by the Galra," Allura says, looking at Shay, her face grim.

"How long have you been taking care of so many, with only seven of you?" Shay asks.

Allura tries to answer her, but she looks unsure. Hunk steps forward in her stead.

"Four days. Allura used up all her energy using Altean magic to try and save the planet. She only just got out of the cryopod."

Shay looks down at where Allura is nestled in her arms and her face sets into grim determination.

"We will help you," she says, and  ensures Allura is standing steady before she calls over her grandmother and father.

The three Balmerans talk in hushed voices for a few minutes. Shay's father seems unsure, but Shay is insistent, and her grandmother looks at Shay with knowing eyes.

"You must rest," Shay turns to them, "we will watch over your charges while you do so. They can remain on the Balmera as long as is needed."

"Thank you," Allura says.

"We will not soon forget what you have done for us," Shay says to all of them, but her gaze is locked on Allura.

Shay helps Allura back into the castle, and the rest of them follow. A few Balmerans accompany them, and Keith gives them a list of where all the refugees are currently housed.

None of them are prepared to leave the castle open and unguarded, not after the incident on Arus, but they tell Shay how to open the doors just in case, and then shut themselves in.

Hunk knows that this rest can't last for long. They'll need to help the Balmerans move the Ceroxians into more permanent lodging if they are to stay here. He admits it would be a good fit, both planets commune with or through a much larger creature and both live predominantly in hollowed out tunnels. He knows, however that the final say is not up to him. Either the Ceroxians or the Balmerans could choose to back out of the arrangement, and they'll be back to being out of options.  

He doesn't really feel like going back to his room, and from the way Lance grasps on to his hand and doesn't let go he deduces he feels the same way. Instead, they sit in the living room, tucked under a blanket and they rest their eyes even as their minds refuse to stop turning.

After a little while the door opens, and Hunk cracks open one eye to see Keith standing at the threshold. Keith stares at them for a second, flustered.

"Sorry, I was just going to- I'll-"

"Keith," Lance cuts him off with a yawn, "get your butt over here."

Lance lifts up one end of the blanket and Keith stares at him for a moment, before he tentatively steps forward. After waiting a few moments as if he’s worried Lance will take it back, he slides underneath the blanket.

"You can let us know if you're uncomfortable," Hunk says, as Lance lets the blanket drop back down over all three of them.

Keith shifts his gaze from Lance to the blanket to Hunk and back again.

"No, this is fine."

"Good," Lance says, and he shuffles down slightly until he's nestled between both of them and shuts his eyes resolutely.

Keith looks down at him a little confused, and Lance opens one eye.

"Someone needs to make sure you actually sleep Keith," Lance says, "you can go back to being our grumpy leader in the morning."

Hunk smiles at Keith over Lance's head, and they settle in. Hunk isn't sure whether any of them actually will sleep, given what's happened, but he feels about as peaceful as he can, given the circumstances.

"Hey Lance?" Hunk says, quietly, so as not to wake Lance in case he actually is asleep.

"Mmmm?"

"When I was carrying Pidge when we first landed would you call that a Piggyfront?"

Lance snorts, and from beside him Hunk can hear Keith chuckle.

"Hey Hunk?"

"Yeah?"

Lance doesn't open his eyes, but he snuggles closer to Hunk's side. He must have pulled Keith with him, because suddenly Keith is closer too, the three of them sharing warmth as well as space.

"Never change."

The refugees settle into life with the Balmerans far more easily than expected. Both parties seem intent to both share as much about their own cultures as they can, while also learning about the other's culture at a similar rate.

The Balmerans find a spare tunnel system near the surface for the Ceroxians while they become acquainted with the Balmera, and work out where they would most like to live. The Ceeroxians accept gratefully. Their planet was far smaller than the Balmera, and they're unused to being far from the surface no matter how deep they burrowed, but they explore further into the Balmera as their stay lengthens.

However, Coran and Allura both agree that they should stay on the Balmera a few days longer. Just because the Balmerans and Ceroxians are getting on well doesn't mean that problems won't spring up as both sides try and adjust to the change. They decide to remain for another 3 day-cycles, just to help the adjustment period in any way they can.

Figuring that he may as well use the free time for something useful, Hunk decides to do some non-essential maintenance to the castle’s stabilisation systems, to bring them up to the standards they'd seen on Olkarion.

It's slow work, but for once Hunk feels actually challenged. He's not just following a manual. It's not quite the afternoons spent tinkering in his backyard shed, but it's close enough to soothe something in Hunk's chest.

The first stabiliser takes hours to upgrade, but after that Hunk knows he just has to repeat the same steps for all the other modules. Now that he's finished the fun part, Hunk groans at the busy work ahead, but he figures that he may as well get it over with. It's still better than sitting around doing nothing.

He's rerouting the wiring of the third such module when he hears a "Hey."

Hunk slides out from underneath the stabiliser and finds Keith, who's grinning down at him, unsure.

"Do you need a hand?"

Hunk hums.

"Sure, do you know much about engines?" Hunk asks. He's sure he can find Keith a job regardless, the question is more out of interest than anything else.

"Not Altean ones, but I built my hoverbike," Keith says, and Hunk whistles.

He'd never quite managed to get his hands on one of those. His mothers had always argued that there's be nowhere to ride it in the city in which he lived, but from his research they were a challenge to build, particularly from scratch.

"Sweet," Hunk says, grabbing Keith a creeper from the corner of the room so he can join Hunk under the engine. Keith takes it with a grin.

"I'm just upgrading each stabiliser at the moment, but if you want to hop in I can show you what I'm doing for each one."

"Sure," Keith says, and lies down.

Hunk starts by pointing out the relevant parts of the engine and naming their Earthen equivalents, and then moves on to a detailed description of the process he's following. Keith listens silently, and when Hunk glances at him out of the corner of his eye to check that he is actually paying attention, Keith moves his from Hunk's hands to meet his gaze.

The words fall out of Hunk's mind as he stares.

He's not sure he's ever seen Keith this close. He thinks he can feel Keith's breath on his face, even though he tells himself that's crazy. Keith's bangs are being pulled away from his face from gravity, and he has a soft smile as he looks at Hunk expectantly.

Hunk clears his throat and tries to ignore the way that Keith's body is so close to his. He feels his cheeks heat up of their own accord, as he tries to remember his place. What was he talking about?

He gestures to part he's holding with one hand and breaks eye contact. Mercifully, Keith shifts his gaze back to Hunk's hands, covered as they are by his gloves. The second he does the spell is broken, and Hunk continues his explanation.

Eventually his voice stops shaking and his heart returns to a normal pace.

Hunk vehemently denies that he avoids Keith after the upgrades are done. Keith simply asks him if he wants to train together, and Hunk unfortunately happens to have other plans. Other plans that he frantically tries to find once Keith has gone.

It's getting close to dinner time, so Hunk could go to the kitchen and experiment with whatever local ingredients they have to try and make the team something better than food goo. But they haven’t gotten any new spices since the last time they went to Olkarion, and by now most of the ship’s inhabitants have their favourite seasonings for the food goo memorised, so he doesn’t see much point.

Instead, he goes outside to get some fresh air. The Balmera has a thinner atmosphere than Earth, and so temperatures fluctuate heavily with the rising and setting of the sun. This makes the middle of the day almost unbearably hot, while the nights are often well below freezing. However, the first few hours of the morning and the last few before sunset are very pleasant, and Hunk decides to take advantage of the opportunity to go outside while he can.

When he exits the Castle he finds that Lance is already outside, lying on a blanket nearby with his hands behind his head.

"Hey babe," he says when Hunk approaches, "have fun giving the Castle turbo fuel?"

"You're impossible," Hunk laughs.

"But imagine how good turbo fuel would be, we would barely even need wormholes."

Hunk kisses Lance on the nose mid rant, and he makes an offended humph, but leans up to kiss Hunk properly. Hunk lies down next to him and Lance takes his left hand, linking their fingers together.

"I'm sorry for interrupting, tell me about turbo fuel."

Lance does, moving Hunk's hand with his as he talks. He starts listing all his favourite movies and video games that have some kind of turbo fuel involved, and bemoans the Garrison for never including it in their vessels. It's light hearted and fun and Hunk joins in, and they both end up listing other 'upgrades' they should give the castle when they get the chance.

Lance is just describing the self-serve sundae bar that he's convinced would boost team morale (to be fair, it definitely would) when Allura strolls out of the castle and past where they're relaxing.

She's wearing a dress that Hunk has never seen her in before, similar in style to her usual outfit but covered in embroidered pink flowers rather than geometric shapes, and her hair is brushed and braided in a complex pattern down her back. There's something else that's different about her appearance, but Hunk can't quite put his finger on what it is. She stops when she sees them and stammers out a hello, her hands hiding something behind her back.

"Hey Princess, what have you got there?" Hunk asks, propping himself up on his elbows.

Allura swings her hands back around to her front sheepishly. Hunk can now clearly see what she's holding is a basket with a blanket and a small cardboard box.

"Oh. Well - I'm going to see some of the Balmeran delegation and I thought I'd take some of the pastries we had on Hareng as a thank you for how hospitable they've been to us," she says,  stuttering and shifting her weight from foot to foot.

Lance also sits up and looks over at Allura with a grin.

"Going for a diplomatic meeting with the Balmerans with a picnic basket by yourself at sunset huh?" Lance says from Hunk's right, wiggling his eyebrows.

Hunk expects Allura to wave Lance off like she has so many times before. Instead, her cheeks start to glow a deep pink and she runs a nervous hand through her hair.

"I'm going to see Shay," she admits, a bashful smile taking over her face even as she looks like she wants to bury her face in her hands, "do I - do I look okay?"

"Allura," Lance says, "if I didn't have god's gift to humanity as a soulmate, nothing could stop me writing sonnets about your beauty."

"You look lovely Allura," Hunk adds.

Allura gives them both a grateful smile as she bids them goodbye, promising she won’t be back late.

Hunk settles back down beside Lance, and they watch as the light slowly seeps away past the horizon, taking the lingering warmth with it. They make new constellations out of the unfamiliar stars, one of Kaltenecker, one of Voltron, one of the mice forming a cheerleader pyramid until the cold night air seeps deep into their bones and even the company isn't enough to keep them warm.

They find Pidge in the common room, and she puts away the replacement for Rover she's working on so that the three of them can play extreme solitaire on her computer.

It's a game the three of them invented during their first month in space. One person plays solitaire on Pidge's computer while blindfolded, one person tries to help them and the other tries to hinder them, and the player doesn't know which is which.

After a while Keith enters and they add a fourth member to the game: a confused bystander with Keith's voice. Eventually he gets the hang of it, and they decide that two unhelpful voices is more fun than one.

They play until well into the night, and Pidge seems content to just shut her eyes and go to sleep right where she is, but Keith pokes her face and drags her arms over his shoulders.

"Come on, I'll give you a piggyback to your room."

"Thanks Keith," she mumbles, and then far too smugly for how tired she apparently is, "this is why you're my favourite brother."

Lance gives and offended shout and Hunk laughs.

"Better luck next time Lance," Keith says with a smirk, and leaves with a cackling Pidge pressed up against his back.

Lance falls back against the couch cushions in a huff, but softens as soon as Hunk rubs a hand across his shoulders.

Hunk stands and offers Lance his hand.

"Ready for bed?"

Lance takes it and uses it to pull Hunk down for a kiss. Hunk smiles against his lips and pulls back before he wants to. Lance stands and threads their fingers together.

"Sure thing sunshine."

They bump into Allura on their walk through the corridors. Her hair is ruffled and she looks entirely too happy. She starts when she sees them and her marks glow, casting light down the dark hallway.

"Well look who we have here. Did you have any idea how worried we were?" Lance says, doing a near perfect impression of a disgruntled wife, although the way he refuses to let go of Hunk as he puts his hands on his hips does diminish the effect somewhat.

"He's joking," Hunk assures her, when Allura starts to apologise, "did you have fun?"

"Yes," Allura says, and Hunk notices her gaze flick to her wrist as her smile grows, "it was a very pleasant evening."

Hunk follows her gaze and he notices what felt off before. While her usual garments always cover at least the back of her hand, this one finishes at the wrist. He can feel a grin encompass his features and he leans forward slightly.

"Is Shay…?" He trails off expectantly.

"Is Shay what?" Allura asks, although Hunk can tell she's flustered.

"Come on Allura, you and Shay are two of my best friends. You can tell me."

She glances at her wrist once again, and her affronted smile grows soft.

"Yes."

Hunk lets out a happy shout and steps forward to embrace her, dragging Lance along with him. Allura giggles as she's encased in Hunk's arms, and she throws her arms around him happily.

"Wait, what's going on here?"

"Shay is my soulmate," Allura says, like the news is too good to be true, like she can scarcely believe it.

Lance lets out a surprised bark of laughter then, and throws his arms around her too. The three of them jump up and down as they embrace, twirling in a circle with Allura at its glowing centre.

Eventually they let Allura go, and congratulate her again as she bids them goodnight.

He and Lance continue walking down the dark corridor, hand in hand. Hunk turns his gaze to Lance, staring at him with one eyebrow raised. It takes Lance a couple of minutes before Hunk catches his eye, and then he takes a second to decipher his expression.

_Guess I didn't need to see if Shay was my soulmate after all?_

Lance smiles, and swats Hunk's arm. Hunk laughs and Lance relaxes against his shoulder with a content sigh.

* * *

 

If Shiro wasn't standing in front of them, alive and mostly unharmed, Hunk would have written off the story he told as fantasy.

After all, there are so many variables that seem to have been calibrated for the perfect balance of drama and ease: from breaking out of a Galra ship single handedly, to the dramatic irony of the rebels at the outpost thinking that one of the most important players in the fight against the Galra was a Galran spy, to the Black Lion not recognising his quintessence signature until he was on the brink of death.

If Shiro's story was scripted, it would have kept Hunk at the edge of his seat, just teetering on losing his suspension of disbelief but not quite tipping him over. Hunk doesn't think Shiro is lying. Lies are usually kept simple, and Shiro's story is complex at best and a complete mess at worst.

Hunk believes him, but the story doesn't go smoothly through his fact-checking channels. It hits snags and gets caught in bramble patches and Hunk has to battle to untangle the edges so he can trust in it. But he tells himself he does. Trust it, that is.

It's a relief and a joy to have Shiro back again, to have the team whole once more. Although, if Hunk is being honest, sometimes now seven feels like one too many. Like there are too many feet and not enough shoes, like they've run out of spoons and one of them is eating soup with a knife and fork.

Lance and Keith seem to feel it too. Where once Keith would have come forward with an idea and Lance would have helped him workshop it until it was streamlined and clear, now Keith and Shiro give opposing orders in unison. Now Lance keeps his head down.

Hunk and Pidge still give their technical advice and input in much the same way that they always have, but Hunk can tell that the right hand side of Voltron is tense and unsure.

Hunk tries to bring it up with Lance when they're alone, but he seems to try and skirt around the issue. Hunk chalks it up to his sense of duty. Lance has seen Shiro as a hero since before the Kerberos mission, it makes sense that he wouldn't want to admit that perhaps Shiro isn't the best thing for team Voltron anymore.

He tries a more direct tactic instead.

"I mean, I know Shiro's back now and it's great, don't get me wrong, just sometimes things aren't meant to stay the same you know?"

Lance pauses.

"You mean the fact that we have 6 pilots and only 5 lions?"

Hunk smiles to himself, thankful that they’re finally getting somewhere.

"Yeah,” he says, “I mean, we all have our positions, and if something isn't broke don't fix it, you know what I mean?"

"True, but Allura's been doing really well piloting Blue."

"Exactly. She's progressed so much faster than we did. It's a little embarrassing really. We can't keep going on the way we are, is all I'm saying. We can't have two black paladins."

"But Keith's the best pilot we've got," Lance says, his eyebrows lowering at his own confession.

Hunk sighs and tries to make it more clear.

"I'm not saying Keith should stop piloting."

When Lance is silent Hunk continues.

"I'm not saying it won't be weird in the short term, but it'll be better for everyone in the long term."

Lance is silent for a few minutes and Hunk sits back and gives him time to process.

"Yeah," Lance sighs eventually, "I guess it's just hard to admit when you're not the best person for the job."

Hunk shrugs. He's not trying to be unkind, but Shiro was the one who drilled into them the importance of compromise, of some things being bigger than themselves. He of all people should be proud of how far they've come.

"Sometimes, being a good team player means knowing what's best for the team, even if it's not what you want."

Lance hugs him then. It's sudden and unexpected, and the way Lance sniffs tells Hunk that it's probably designed to hide tears.

"I'm sorry, I know this must be hard to hear," Hunk says, carding a hand through Lance's hair. Losing heroes is never easy. Hunk knows this all too well.

"It's fine. I think I needed to hear it. Thank you for being honest."

"Hey, for you? Always," and then, because he never says it enough, "I'm so proud of you for how far you've come."

Lance, the pilot of the Red Lion, the right hand of Voltron and the greatest boy Hunk has ever had the pleasure of knowing, nods against Hunk's chest. After a few minutes, he pulls away with dry eyes and red cheeks.

"I think I might go talk to Keith about it actually."

"Sure, do you want me to come?"

"Thanks, but I think this is something I have to do myself."

Hunk nods as Lance leaves. He's right. Keith will probably take a suggestion that Shiro should step down better without an audience. Another rush of pride hits him.

When Lance returns he says the talk went well, but on their next mission Keith tries to sit out and tells Shiro to pilot the Black Lion.

Hunk frowns, but follows orders. He knows when not to cause a scene, surely they'll have a chance to discuss it later.

When the Black Lion rejects Shiro, cementing Keith as the pilot of the Black Lion and the team's current configuration, Hunk feels a guilty sense of relief.

* * *

 

Keith leaving is a punch in the gut.

For once, the team had felt stable. Shiro was back, and he'd been slotting back in where he could. But the Black Lion had shown what deep down Hunk had already known: the team doesn't need another shakeup, and that removing Shiro, removing their star leader who could do no wrong, had built them up stronger for all that it had knocked them down.

Power had become more balanced in Shiro's absence. To a certain extent they all had to share their advice and abilities, because none of them were sure enough to make decisions alone. Hunk isn't convinced that Keith was their end point, but once they had adjusted to the change it certainly felt like a step in the right direction.

Keith had never wanted to be leader, that was clear from the get go. But by the end he was a good leader, perhaps partially because of the fact that he didn't want to be one at all. When Keith had started training with the Blade Hunk had assumed that he just wanted to get more in touch with his Galra heritage, they all had.

But now Hunk isn't so sure. He can't tell how much of it was Keith deliberately pushing himself out of the picture so that Shiro would be the Black Lion's only option. Part of him understands where Keith is coming from, but a much larger part of Hunk finds it hard to forgive the fact that Keith put them all in danger.

Keith had left inch by inch, but he'd left the team in a pot of water over an open flame. And like lobsters, they hadn't noticed the temperature growing with each missed training session and diplomatic mission until they'd been boiling alive.

They'd very nearly been boiled alive.

If the Black Lion hadn't accepted Shiro at the last minute, Hunk isn't sure whether any of the team would still be here.

Pidge seems to take Keith's departure as a cue that it's fine to come and go as she pleases. Although unlike Keith, she does return, with her lost brother to boot.

Lance starts spending more and more time alone, playing video games in a dimly lit room and taking care of Kaltenecker. He assures Hunk that he's fine, that there's nothing to talk about, that he understands that Hunk is working with Pidge and Matt because he has to, and that he doesn't love Lance any less. Hunk still tries to spend as much of his time off with Lance as he can, and Lance shoots him cheeky grins and over the top displays of affection like he always does, but there's something missing from his smile. There's a lingering emptiness that Hunk can't seem to dispel.

Sometimes it feels like Hunk is losing Lance as well as Keith.

Sometimes it even feels like Hunk is losing himself. Because there's a hole in his chest that he can't explain, and every day it tries to pull him closer to despair. It tells him that Matt and Pidge don't really need his help. It somehow labels even Lance insufficient.

Hunk has dealt with negative thoughts before, deals with them every day. So he fights off the hole in his chest as best he can, but he can't ignore it entirely. He can't shake the feeling that this hole has a familiar shape and an external cure. He tries to ignore the fact that he can pinpoint the exact second that it entered his chest. He tells himself it doesn't matter that clearly someone took that part of his heart with them when they left.

Hunk refuses to sit and pine for Keith's return. It's not fair to him, and it's certainly not fair to Lance.

Instead, he tries and press on like nothing's wrong. Hunk honestly isn't sure whether the others notice the difference. He knows that he's not whole, but he tells himself that one day he will be. He tells himself that Lance will be enough. He knows he would fight the hole every day for the rest of his life if it kept a smile on Lance's face.

He pretends that he has a choice. He pretends that the hole isn't growing.

* * *

 

Hunk likes to think that he's funny.

He enjoys seeing his teammates laugh. The way Lance throws one arm over Hunk's shoulder and holds his other across his stomach to express his mirth. Pidge's quirked eyebrow that always breaks into pure enjoyment, the way that he can occasionally get Allura to drop her poised princess face and snort as she giggles. The way that Keith always looks shocked right before he bursts into laughter, like a dam breaking.

As such, he doesn't mind being Humorous Hunk, not at first. He certainly doesn't think of it as his role in the team per say, but he knows this is show business, this is creating a story for the crowds and, as archetypes go, he guesses there are worse options.

But then Coran frames it so that his entire existence is the butt of the joke.

Hunk remembers elementary school. It felt like curiosity and an endless, boundless universe just waiting to be explored. It felt like his schoolmates’ misunderstanding, sneers at his latest project, like people who didn't want what he had to offer. Many days it felt like eating lunch alone.

Hunk loves himself, it's hard not to with parents and friends as great as he has. But these shows open up old wounds. Who could look at a crowd of tens of thousands, night after night, laughing at you instead of with you and feel anything like positive?

He reminds himself that this is temporary and bites back a wince every time Coran saunters in saying he booked them another gig.

Hunk knows Lance would comfort him if Hunk explained it. Hunk loves seeing him happy though. Lance leaps into his role with open arms and he's had precious little to smile about since they got here.

But part of Hunk knows that Lance doesn't understand, can't truly understand. After all, Hunk loves himself but he also knows in a visceral sense why Coran chose him to be the joke. He's seen television shows, he's watched movies, he's experienced first hand the way that people think that his weight makes him a walking punchline.

If he's being honest, Hunk doesn't want comfort. He doesn't want to have to explain. Deep down, he thinks he just wants someone to hear what's happening and without prompting, be angry on his behalf.

* * *

 

Hunk wakes up with a start. Once he's taken a moment to re-orient himself, to assure himself that he's back in his bedroom on the castleship,  not in the middle of battle, none of his team is injured, Lance is not bleeding out in his arms as the Galra close in, he sighs and lifts the sheets so he can climb out.

This is basically a nightly occurrence by now, wearing on Hunk's prudence and his patience. But for all that the nightmare-induced insomnia has become monotonous, the nightmares themselves lose none of their bite.

Night after night Hunk finds himself waking to a hammering heart and shaking hands. He goes to the kitchen for a glass of water for something to do. Pidge no longer considers his presence an anomaly when she's up late working.

Tonight however, the table is filled with the presence not of Pidge but of Lance, lingering over a cup of what from Coran's descriptions should taste like tea but doesn't. He gives Hunk a tired smile as he walks in, and Hunk circumvents the table to drop a kiss on Lance's forehead.

"Couldn't sleep?" Hunk asks, foregoing water to sit down next to Lance. Lance slides his half-full cup of 'tea' in his direction and Hunk takes a sip.

"Nah. I've been getting nightmares since…" Lance trails off, biting his lip and shifting his gaze back down to the table.

"Me too," Hunk says, because he's been getting nightmares basically since they've been up here. It's hard to imagine that less than a year ago he was getting a constant eight hours, night after night. Sometimes it's easy to forget that there was a time before Hunk had seen the things he's seen.

But the nightmares have increased in frequency as of late. Perhaps because of the added stress of a de-stabilised team. Perhaps because the stakes seem to mount day by day. Perhaps simply because the nightmares had already maxed out severity and had nowhere else to grow.

He ignores the lingering thought that he can pinpoint the exact day that they started getting worse. He pretends it was a gradual change, because he doesn't know what to do with the fact that Keith leaving could have that effect on him. Besides, correlation doesn't imply causation, so Hunk still has some reasonable doubt to cling to.

They sit in silence as Hunk finishes the tea. Lance takes his hand and rubs his thumb across Hunk's knuckles.

Hunk's wearing his gloves even now. He feels naked without them these days, even more so than usual. Sometimes even when he's alone with Lance he feels like the second he takes them off the universe will come and whisk him away. Like this destruction just like all the others is lurking in the shadows, just waiting for him to let down his guard.

When the glass is empty they put it away and then wander down the hallways once more.

They reach Hunk's door Lance pulls him down by the shoulders to give him two kisses, one on each cheek. When he pulls away Hunk lays a hand gently on his wrist.

"Do you want to stay?" He asks, and Lance looks up at him with wide eyes.

Back at the Garrison they'd always promised that sharing a bed was something to be done when they were older. When they'd graduated, when they had their own apartment or bought a house together. Even when they were roommates they'd never wavered on this stance. They had their whole lives together and so there was no need to rush anything.

Now however, they both know that the perfect timeline they'd planned has been thrown out the window, replaced with something harder but more important. The future is still long and bright, but it's clouded by the knowledge that this job is dangerous. For all the time they should have, any day could be their last.

Lance nods and squeezes Hunk's hand as Hunk leads them inside.

They've napped together before, and in a way this feels just like that. They slot together in the way Hunk always assumed soulmates would.

Here, safe in Lance's arms, a weight is lifted off of Hunk's chest. His chest is still heavy with responsibility and a hanging question he can't answer, but this lightens the load enough for him to close his eyes and steady his breathing.

Hunk's dreams are made peaceful, at least for the rest of the night.

* * *

 

"Shiro, we're all on the same side here-"

"I told you to stay out of this!"

When Shiro snaps at Lance Hunk has to bite back a growl.

He knows it's a high-stress situation. He knows that this is important, that this could make the team or break it. He knows there are so many external factors at play, but he has to admit the second it happened Shiro flickered in his mind's eye from "friend" to "threat".

Lance's face shows a similar mix of shock and disbelief with an added helping of hurt, but he masks it with stoicism almost as quickly as it flashes across his face. Shiro has already moved on, shifted his gaze away from Lance and back to Allura and Lotor.

Hunk shuffles backwards just enough so that he can catch Lance's eye from behind Shiro's field of vision. He raises an eyebrow and Lance shrugs. Hunk frowns, and gestures his head at Shiro, letting his eyes squint into a glare at their leader just long enough for Lance to get the message.

 _He's wrong_ with just a mix of _do you want me to beat him up for you?_

Lance lets out a silent chuckle, and he grins as he shakes his head minutely in Hunk's direction.

 _It's fine_ and _thank you_ in equal measure.

Hunk smiles at Lance once more, ( _anytime babe_ ) before he refocuses on where Lotor and Shiro are still arguing against the rest of the team, as if the two of them have final say.

It's not really. Fine, that is.

It's certainly not Shiro's fault that Keith up and left the Black Lion and the team in a heaped pile in Shiro's lap. That still doesn't change the fact he's been bordering on unreasonable ever since he reclaimed his place as pilot of the Black Lion.

Hunk wants to give him the benefit of the doubt, but his patience is wearing thin. Shiro still listens to Allura when it suits him, and Pidge some of the time, but he and Lance have become background players in Shiro's team. The only person whose advice Shiro really takes to heart is Lotor, which is troubling in and of itself.

Some days it feels like their team is being slowly decapitated. Cut off at their (overly) decisive head.

Hunk doesn't want to be leader, he doesn't want to leave the Yellow Lion, but some days it feel like even that would be better than what they have now.

The hole inside Hunk’s chest continues to grow.

* * *

 

Hunk doesn't promise himself he won't cry, because he's been gone for so long and he deserves to weep as he tells his family that he's alive and unharmed. But he doesn't expect that he'll break down into sobs as soon as he turns on the camera.

 _They won't even be able to understand you like this,_ he tells himself, _at least try and tell them where you are and what's happened before you get emotional._

He dries his eyes and calms himself down. On the second take he's going well, right until he opens his mouth and says the first word.

By take five he can almost get through "Hi everyone" before he chokes up.

He's supposed to be helping Coran pack up supplies for Sam Holt's return trip to Earth. He'd asked Coran for an hour to record his message, and promised he'd be back to help move all of the communication equipment Earth will need to keep in contact with the castle.

Instead, it takes him almost two hours to get through the first sentence, and he has a headache from all the crying.

This time he tells himself to talk through the tears. He has a hard deadline, after all. Sam Holt is leaving in the morning, and he needs something to give him to pass on by then. He can always put subtitles on it if his words become incomprehensible.

He turns the camera and sits in front of it, trying to smile and keep his tears at bay at the same time.

"Hi everyone," so far so good, "I'm not sure what the Garrison has told you, but I'm okay." No tears, stop it, "I'm currently on a magic castle ship that hurtling through space at literally a million miles an hour."

Hunk can feel his tears lessen up slightly as he starts to talk about less personal topics. He tells his family about some of the missions they've been on (the ones that have happy endings and don't get too dark in the middle) and he tells them about his teammates, the engineers at Olkarion, their misadventures at the space mall, and Shay.

"She's actually Allura's soulmate," he says, smiling at the thought of how happy they've both been together, before his gaze falls slightly, "and I found my soulmate too."

He can feel the tears prick at his eyes again. He thinks that he should have been able to tell them in person, over the summer, it should have been so easy. He should have a mark to show them. He should have something more than a feeling in his chest and a hope against hope that it won't someday turn out to be a lie.

"Lance, you met him over the summer. He's, well, he's" Hunk finds himself at a loss, without words adequate enough to describe him, "he's Lance, I guess. He's perfectly, wonderfully Lance. I can't wait for you to meet him again, properly this time. I can't wait to see you again."

Hunk can't even pretend he could stop the tears pouring down his cheeks right now even if he wanted to.

"I miss you all so much," he says, and promptly breaks down. He can't even think of the words, let alone get them out of his mouth. He files away a mental note to cut out this part of the video before he sends it.

After long minutes of simply reminding himself to breathe he regains his train of thought. He sits up, wipes his eyes, and forces himself to smile into the camera.

"But the universe needs me, so I'm going to stay here and keep you safe. And one day, I'm going to come home."

He can't physically transmit a hug through the camera, so he blows a kiss and hopes that it's enough.

He spends almost another hour getting rid of all the excess takes and cleaning up the video. He finds photographs of all his teammates and some of the places they've been to add to the video as he talks about them. He finds all the photographs he can find of himself smiling, some with the entire team, some selfies with just Lance, some alone, and puts them in a folder with the video clip before saving it onto the external drive to pass onto Sam Holt.

He wants his family to know he's as happy up here as he can be. That he has friends and a new family that's no stronger or weaker than the one waiting for him on Earth, just different.

One day, he swears, he'll have both of his families safe in his arms.

* * *

 

After the castle had spent three days without power while in the hold of the white hole, every system required checking to ensure that the magic hadn't damaged it.

Allura had assured them that it was fine, that the ship still felt normal to her, but Coran had twirled his moustache and said "better safe than sorry" (Hunk honestly isn't sure whether Altea had the same saying, or Coran picked it up from one of them, or if the ship's translation software has become evolved enough translate idioms) and secretly Hunk had agreed with Coran. They've had so many close calls since they started out on this journey, there's no need to engineer any more with carelessness.

On the other hand, after testing more than three-quarters of the ship's systems and getting back the green light every time, Hunk is beginning to ruminate on the definition of insanity as doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.

It's here that Lance finds Hunk, arguing with himself with each new test about the probability of this system being affected given none of the ones before it were, but his paranoia ultimately winning out each time.

"Need a hand?"

Lance's palm brushes through Hunk's hair, and he lets out a content sigh, some of the tension from his shoulders slipping away. Hunk turns and smiles at Lance and his heart rows with fondness. He pushes back the thought that for a split second as he'd turned around he'd fully expected it to be Keith.

"Actually, yeah, if you don't mind logging the test output in the system?"

Lance pulls up a data screen and flashes Hunk a thumbs up.

They work on their tasks for just over an hour, Hunk calling the results across the room and setting up the next test as Lance finds the correct output log and copies the relevant information into the cross-referencing search systems. Hunk is sure that there must be an automated system for what they're doing somewhere, during their first few weeks in space Coran had tried to find one to no avail.

In the end though, they'd decided that if the tests became frequent enough to be an issue they'd write a program to do it, and secretly Hunk doesn't mind the busy work at times like this, when there's nothing else to do anyway.

He also can't say he minds the company.

Eventually Hunk's back starts to ache from bending to the uncomfortable angles of the different systems. He calls for a break, and Lance dismisses the data screen with a flick of his wrist.

It's a new invention of Pidge's, copying and extending the wrist-screens they have in their suits. Hunk still uses his tablet when he's relaxing and the data screens aren't yet attuned to their personal data storage centers, but the data screens are perfect for exactly what they're doing now.

Lance stretches.

"I've actually wanting to talk to you about something," he says, leaning against a wall nonchalantly, as if that isn't the sort of phrase that will drop an anvil of anxiety into Hunk's chest.

"What is it?"

"It's about Shiro."

Hunk breathes a sigh. He stands up straight and stretches out his back.

"About how he's been weird lately?" Hunk asks.

"Yeah. I talked to him earlier and he says he 'doesn't feel like himself', he's been getting headaches and there was that time on Olkarion when we were in the spirit plane or whatever…"

"You think he's not who he says he is?"

"Maybe… or else maybe the Galra did something to him while he was locked up, I don't know."

Lance pauses for a moment before he continues.

"I'm just worried because it's getting harder to trust him, and I don't want the rest of team to find out something's wrong because suddenly we can't form Voltron anymore."

Hunk nods, face grim. He's been having similar concerns.

"Yeah, I've been feeling the same thing," he says, and then, almost as an afterthought, "this would be so much simpler if Keith hadn't left."

Lance bristles.

"I don't see how," he says, and crosses his arms. His frown looks unsure, and Hunk raises an eyebrow.

"Well Shiro wouldn't be piloting a lion," Hunk says easily, shrugging.

"What are you talking about? Even before Keith left Shiro was going to take over the Black Lion."

Hunk looks over to Lance in confusion for a moment. He isn’t sure why this conversation suddenly feels so charged.

"Lance, we talked about this."

Lance looks at him, and there's something in his eyes Hunk can't decipher.

" _I know_ we talked about this. We talked about how you shouldn't change what's not broken."

"Exactly-" Hunk starts, but Lance isn’t done.

"So, even if Keith hadn't left, Shiro would still be piloting the Black Lion, you know, because we weren't changing anything from before unless it didn’t work?"

Hunk stares at him for a moment, wanting to placate Lance but not sure how.

"That's not what I - you thought I wanted Keith to step down?" Hunk asks.

"No, Keith would pilot the Red Lion, you know, because he’s the best pilot we’ve got?"

Lance's voice is hard, and Hunk keeps trying and failing to process what he's trying to say.

"Allura then? I don't-"

"No, not Allura -  remember - because Allura has been progressing a lot faster than any of us did, and you wouldn't want to waste her potential or whatever."

Lance crosses his arms and sniffs. His posture deflates all at once, and the knowledge of what Lance took from that conversation all those months ago hits Hunk like a freight train.

"Look it doesn't matter," Lance says, sliding down the wall and staying there, with his legs bunched up and his arms giving himself a hug, "I want you to be honest with me, even when it's not what I want to hear."

Hunk stares at Lance in horror.

"Lance, that's not what I meant at all," he says, his own voice ragged with shock.

It rings through the otherwise silent room. Lance shrugs but doesn't answer.

"I meant that the team we'd built while Shiro was gone wasn't broken," he continues, easing himself to the floor because his legs suddenly can't seem to support him, "Keith and Pidge and Allura and I. And you Lance. You as our right hand.

"We'd grown stronger together because we'd had to. We didn't have a leader who had all the answers anymore, but slowly, we found we didn't need one. And you were there the whole time Lance, keeping Keith in line, keeping us all sane. We couldn't have done any of it without you."

Hunk has to stop and catch his breath for a moment, his chest rattling all the way to his bones.

"How could you ever think I'd want you to step down?" Hunk asks himself as much as Lance.

Lance shrugs, and sniffs, and draws his legs closer. After a few moments he starts to speak.

"It's just that… Allura's the heart of Voltron and Pidge is the mind and Shiro's the decisive head and you're the legs and half the brains to boot and Keith is the spirit and I'm," he trails off, his head turned to one side but his eyes focussed on nothing, "I'm just Lancey Lance."

"Oh Lance," Hunk breathes, berating that entire conversation about someone stepping down, berating any words he could have possibly said to make Lance doubt himself, "that's not true at all."

Hunk moves forward slowly, inch by inch, giving Lance plenty of time to shrug him off. He uses the time to try and put the full comprehension of how important Lance is to the team, how he draws them together like Allura, how he injects them with life and new ideas, how much hope he gives them simply by existing into Lance terms, in a way that he'll understand just how deeply Hunk means them.

"You're our lungs," Hunk says, as he pulls Lance into his arms, "Lance you're our lungs."

He draws him tighter as Lance's breath hitches, and he runs his fingers through Lance's hair as Lance cries into his shoulder.

* * *

 

Keith returns without ceremony.

Hunk had been repairing some broken wiring in the main bridge, asking the mice for help with the small spaces, when a communication came through from an authorised frequency. Allura was resting and Shiro was training, so he accepted the frequency with little intent more than to be a human answering machine, or raise the alarm if something was wrong.

Instead he sees Keith's face take up the majority of the screen. It's the first time Hunk has seen him in weeks, the first time he's seen him alone in months.

There are bags around Keith's eyes where there used to be smooth skin, and he looks like some part of his spirit is missing. Space is hard for all of them, but now that Hunk can actually see Keith's face, now that Keith isn't just a smaller figure standing beside Kolivan, or a Blade of Marmora mask across a battlefield, Hunk feels justified in his worry.

Keith, for his part, starts slightly when he sees Hunk open the communication line so quickly. They stare at each other in awkward silence for a moment.

"Keith," Hunk says, feeling less breath than he knows he should have, "how are you? Is something wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong," Keith looks to the side, "I was just in the star system, and - you know - I thought that I might come say hi."

Hunk doesn't miss Keith's brief wince.

"Wait, you're coming to the castle? Where are you?"

Keith looks, if anything, bashful.

"Outside."

Hunk pulls up another monitor to the external view of the castle, and sure enough he can see a single Galra ship in the planet's atmosphere, hovering awkwardly in place.

"I'll authorise your ship's frequency for the forcefield. Land down in the lion hangar, yeah?"

"Yeah," Keith smiles for the first time and a weight lifts off Hunk's heart, "see you soon buddy."

Keith shuts off the communication and Hunk runs.

He sprints down the corridors, looking through doors as he goes, until he finds Lance in one of the common rooms, reading some intel on his tablet.

"Lance!"

Lance all but drops the tablet as his gaze shoots up to Hunk's face.

"What's wrong? Are we under attack?" Lance asks, jumping up and throwing the tablet aside.

"Keith's back."

In the split second it takes Lance to process the information Hunk can see the same flurry of emotions he felt when he received the news. Then they're running. Straight to the hangar.

Hunk knows they'll need to the tell the others. But something about Keith being back after so long screams that he needs to see him now, needs to be able to look at him with his own two eyes and know that he's okay. And something deep within Hunk knows that Lance is the only other person who fully understands.

They both skid to a stop just as the ship is turning off its engines. And then the hatch opens and Keith steps out.

Hunk's breath catches in his throat.

He and Lance both step forward as one unit. Hunk has his arms outstretched to hug Keith as soon as they come close, but Keith is giving them a polite smile and looks like he almost might be going for a handshake. Hunk grinds to a halt the second before he gets too close, and Keith looks between them, Hunk like he’s greeting an old friend, himself like he could be in a business meeting.

Keith seems to all but deflate then, letting out a happy sigh as he steps into Hunk’s arms. Lance joins the pile and Hunk releases a breath he didn't know he was holding.

The relief hits Hunk like a wave and he can feel his eyes start to well up with tears, but it's Lance who speaks.

"Don't scare us like that again Keith."

They only know about what Keith had almost done because Matt had offhandedly mentioned it in an otherwise innocuous conversation. Matt had assumed that the whole thing had been smoothed over, that the team had talked to Keith about it and resolved it. He assumed that Keith was in contact with them outside of the formal meetings with the blade. In reality, Keith hadn't told them anything.

"Like what?" Keith asks, confused.

Hunk knows that realistically it's been over a month since Keith almost flew his ship into Haggar's shield to try and break it. He knows that it probably is the furthest thing from Keith's mind right now. But the tone of Keith's voice makes the little ball of anxiety at the back of Hunk's mind decide that the only possible explanation is that he's put himself in danger so many times with the Blade that it no longer even registers.

Hunk pulls him infinitesimally closer.

"On Naxela," Hunk says, "you shouldn't try and sacrifice yourself Keith. It's not worth it."

Keith starts for a second like he's going to pull away, but instead he just pulls them both closer.

Hunk isn't sure how long they stand there, but for the first time in a long time he feels like he's home. He can almost feel the warmth of a sunny day on his face, the sweet embrace of solid earth beneath him. He hasn't felt grounded in who knows how long, but in this moment, even a growing itch on his wrist almost feels pleasant. For once, he feels whole.

Eventually Keith clears his throat and they let go. He asks them about the rest of the team. Lance scratches the back of his head and Hunk takes his hand as a show of silent support.

"Actually, we need to talk to you about something first."

When Keith meets their gaze his eyes look almost hopeful. Hunk tries and fails to place his expression.

"What is it?" Keith asks, following them when Hunk gently takes his hand and leads him into a private room. The last thing they need is someone, especially Shiro, overhearing what they're about to say.

When the door is shut behind them Keith raises an eyebrow. Hunk sees Lance looking between where his hand is still grasping Keith's wrist and he drops it like a brand. Then Lance clears his throat and looks to Keith with a serious face.

"There's something wrong with Shiro."

Keith expression falls. There's a hint of something that looks like disappointment on his face, but Hunk figures he must have imagined it, because a second later it's masked with worry. Keith asks them question after question and his brows furrow more and more with each response.

Hunk isn't sure how much later it is when they've caught Keith up on everything. Keith is looking between them, as if he's lost. His voice wavers when he speaks.

"That doesn't sound like Shiro, but- I can't come back. I'm not ready. I can't be the leader you need me to be."

Hunk doesn't know what to say. He leans forward and places a hand on Keith's shoulder as Lance manages to find the words.

"We don't need you to be a perfect leader Keith. We just need you to be here."

Keith smiles at Lance, although his eyes remain tired.

"I can probably manage that," he says.

Hunk feels a huge chunk of his worry flow out of him at Keith's words. He ignores the pinpricks on his hand, trying and failing to reach his skin. Instead he smiles and goes with Keith to find the rest of the team.

Lance walks beside him and slips his hand into Hunk's left. Hunk isn't sure why his right hand suddenly feels empty.

* * *

 

They've all just finished dinner together when Keith tells them the full story of his time with the Blade. He'd answered questions when they were eating, providing some detail when he could, but it felt like mission reports. It felt exactly like the Keith Hunk had seen through a screen for the last few months, and nothing like the Keith he'd known before that.

After the meal Shiro and Lotor have to run off to attend a meeting with some high ranking Galra officials. Lotor pauses at the door and asks Allura if she wants to join them, but Lance raises an eyebrow at her from behind Lotor's head, and she waves them off with an excuse about a report she'd promised to the delegates of the Balmera.

When they leave Hunk feels a guilty sigh of relief spread through him, and Keith's shoulders sag. He begins slowly, with the pieces of information they already know. The training, the missions, his decision to leave Voltron. But this time it feels more personal. The information is old, but the perspective is new. He talks about the way of the Blade, of no attachment, of leaving others behind. He talks about his trouble adjusting frankly, as if he can't decide whether he should be ashamed.

However, as the time goes on Keith's memory seems to become blurry. Memories come fast, but they seem jumbled, not in the right order. Keith begins sentences and then skips to the next one halfway through. Hunk isn't sure whether Keith can't remember the gaps, or if he's just editing details out. Either way it's not comforting.

By the time the story reaches Naxela Keith looks exhausted, but Hunk knows that this is only halfway through, if that. Keith describes working with the Blade, the fight against Haggar's shield. He doesn't mention what he was about to do before Lotor showed up.

The five of them all already know.

If this were Lance, Hunk knows that he would have reached for Lance's hand across the table hours ago. He would have needed the feeling of skin against his, the reminder of object permanence, a declaration that Lance isn't going to disappear every time he leaves Hunk's line of sight.

He feels his hand itching, it keeps resting on the table top and scooting in Keith's direction when he's not paying attention. More than once he has to pretend he’s stretching when someone glances at him curiously. He doesn't give in, he doesn't reach for Keith, because Keith isn't his soulmate.

When Shiro had disappeared and re-emerged, after Allura had been captured, Hunk's worry had never been this visceral. Hunk comes up with twenty thousand rational reasons why Keith's circumstances were different, the length of time he's been gone, the fact that he may very well change his mind and go back to the Blade, but they all sound like hollow excuses when he repeats them, even to himself.

Keith continues at a steady pace until he reaches one of the last missions he'd been on with the Blade. He talks about flying through debris in a Galra fighter, and crash landing on the planet. From beside him, Hunk can see Lance's fists clench. All of them now know how difficult that maneuver is, but Lance is the one of them with pilot training. His anger tells Hunk that it was not only a hard ask of the Blade, but an unreasonable one.

Keith tells them about the base, about the weapon they were trying to stop. He tells them that they fail, but he doesn't say why. He tells them about his partner for the mission, which isn't unusual, but the way he pauses before he says her name makes Hunk uneasy.

Finally, he takes a deep breath.

"Krolia is my mother."

The table is silent. Hunk lets out a breath he didn't know he was holding. He isn't sure how to rationalise the way his heart clenched for the split second he thought Keith might say she was his soulmate.

Pidge is the first one to react. She puts a hand on Keith's shoulder, but doesn't say anything.

He smiles at her, but it doesn't reach his eyes. This time when Keith catches his eye Hunk lets his hand slide across the table and Keith takes it in his own. Lance actually gets out of his chair to give Keith a hug. Coran is wiping away a tear as he tells Keith that he's happy for him.

Allura smiles and takes Keith's other hand.

"If you would like Krolia to come visit you here she would be most welcome," she says, "however it's completely up to you."

"Thank you," he looks at Allura, "but I'm not sure I'm ready for her to visit just yet."

Allura squeezes his hand.

"Whatever you need."

They sit in silence for a few minutes, before Pidge starts telling the story of the shows they played. About how Allura had to impersonate him, about Loverboy Lance and Shiro the Hero and all the phony science Coran gave her to spout. Keith looks over at Hunk when Pidge tells him about Humorous Hunk, and his eyebrows lower, but Hunk shrugs and Keith lets it go. He laughs along with the Coran's antics, as Pidge tells him one story and then another, recounting all the funny things that have happened since Keith left that wouldn't have shown up in the mission reports they sent Kolivan.

Keith is still laughing when they all head off to bed. He thanks them, and they envelop him in another group hug, short one member but still joyful.

A hello instead of goodbye.

* * *

 

A few days later, Lance and Hunk sit Allura, Pidge, Keith and Coran down in one of the common rooms and tell them their suspicions about Shiro.

They talk about it  for more than an hour, arguing as much as they agree, before Allura sighs and drops her head into her hands.

"Shiro will be back from his meeting in a few dobashes," she says, "we should try and come up with a plan before then, even if it is to do nothing."

"I think we should talk to him about it," Keith says.

"Isn’t that pretty risky?" Pidge asks.

"Lance said that Shiro told him he wasn't feeling right," Keith says, leaning forward, "he wouldn't have said that if he was doing this deliberately."

"If he's doing anything at all," Allura says.

Lance raises an eyebrow at her, and she deflates against the pillows.

"I have also been wondering about some of his recent actions," she admits, "but he's still part of Voltron. We can't do anything rash."

"But if number two and number three are right we can't just do nothing," Coran says, with an uncharacteristic frown.

"We could keep him under surveillance?" Pidge asks, but even she doesn't seem keen on the idea.

"I agree with Keith," Lance eventually says, "we should trust him enough to talk to him."

"I think so  too," Hunk says.

Pidge straightens her glasses with one hand.

"Well if even Lance is agreeing with Keith then it's probably a smart idea."

"It's the best plan we have right now," Allura agrees, "although perhaps we should wait a few days to be absolutely sure."

Keith nods, and Pidge stands and stretches. The rest of the team take this as their cue to get back to what they were doing. Allura and Coran leave the room discussing a new supply route the Blade want them to look into. Lance takes Hunk's hand.

As they turn to leave, Hunk catches Pidge talking to Keith from across the room.

"Keith, I know you're the closest to Shiro, are you alright with all of this?"

Keith turns to her with a frown.

"Lance and Hunk wouldn't lie."

"I know that, I just-" Pidge cuts herself off and breathes before she continues, "you were so happy to have Shiro back, I just thought you might have trouble processing that something is wrong."

Keith hums in thought.

"Hunk and Lance told me about it about a week ago, so I've had some time to get used to it I guess?"

"They did?" Pidge asks, "I mean, I shouldn't really be surprised."

"What do you mean?"

"You three have always been close, I guess. Heck I worked with them for months at the Garrison, and we're like family, but no one's ever wormed their way into their dynamic quite the way you have."

Keith coughs, Hunk blushes, and Pidge changes the subject.

"It just seems so surreal that this could be happening again…" Pidge sniffs, "quiznak, why is nothing ever simple!?"

Keith puts a hand on Pidge's shoulder.

"We've found him before. We'll find him again."

Keith sounds resolute. Hunk isn't entirely sure who he's trying to convince. Pidge pulls off her glasses and wipes her eyes.

"And what do we do until then?" She says, more to herself than anyone else.

Keith doesn't answer.

When they confront Shiro, everyone has their bayards concealed on their person, in the unlikely event that he could become violent. Hunk feels awful doing so, but he knows it's necessary. It's a smart decision, but a hard one. They all know that Shiro would never do anything to hurt any of them.

 _But then,_ a deep thought within Hunk reverberates, _you never thought you'd try and hurt Lance._

Hunk forces himself to breathe, mentally reciting the external factors of the situation one by one, all the ways in which he had no control. Lance has spent hours going over the reasons with him, counting them out on his fingers with gentle hands. Reminding Hunk with each relapse of his anxiety that there are things Hunk can change and things he can't.

On the latter list are the past, the superhuman abilities of weird alien plants, and other people's malice. Hunk touches each finger as he goes over them now and eventually he opens his eyes with a clear head. It not only reiterates the fact that their bayards are necessary, but also that it's most likely that Shiro is a victim in this as much as they are.

When they tell him their suspicions, Shiro just nods. He slumps over, head in his hands, and tells him that he's been thinking something is wrong, he just didn't know what. The grief on his face is almost overwhelmed by a look of guilty relief.

"But what I don't understand," Shiro says, from his hunched over position, "is how far gone I am. Lance, you said you saw me when you were in some Voltron state. Was that my subconscious, or someone else entirely?"

Keith leans forward with lowered eyebrows.

"I don't understand. You're Shiro. You have to be."

Shiro sits in silence for a few minutes, as if he's also debating this question. Finally, he looks at Keith with a slow, dawning realisation.

"Keith," he asks "do I have a soulmark?"

"What?" It's Pidge who interrupts this time, but Lance looks thoughtful.

"My memories about it are really fuzzy. There was something in the shack, before we found the Blue Lion, but every time I try and remember it just statics out."

Keith is silent for a few minutes, before he makes a long, slow exhale.

"Yeah," Keith says, to the shock of those around them, "you do."

Shiro stares at his wrist. He prompts Keith to continue.

"You showed me the day you crash landed on Earth. It was some sort of alien language, we thought at the time that maybe the Galra had done something to you, and you decided to hide it. We haven't talked about it since. But I remember the mark well enough to say that it's not Galran.

“I'm not sure what language it is though."

"That doesn't mean the Galra didn't put it there," Shiro says.

"You can't fake a soulmark," Allura contradicts him, "many beings across the galaxy have tried, but you can always tell the difference. Even Haggar couldn't do it. Your soulmate may still be out there somewhere, Shiro."

She smiles at him, and he tries to smile back.

"Not mine," he says, and pulls off his glove to reveal a blank wrist.

* * *

 

It has been four months since the last time the team met to argue over who should pilot the Black Lion, but it could have been four minutes. Somehow, they always seem to end up here.

Only this time, instead of five contenders there is only one, and he's refusing to play.

Allura managed to convince Lotor that they needed a few weeks on Olkarion to repair the castle. Keith talked to Kolivan and told the Blade that Voltron would be out of commission except in the most dire of circumstances. Pidge sent a similar message to the rebels through Matt.

Lance and Hunk have spent this time with Not-Shiro, trying to talk him out of locking himself in a cryopod or running away into the night. He seems convinced that Haggar is somehow using him to get to the team, that every second he's with them put them in further danger.

Hunk can't say that he fully disagrees with him, but he knows that Not-Shiro's solutions aren't the best answer. It feels strange, babysitting the man who only a matter of days ago was leading them with something of an iron fist. Not-Shiro refuses to do anything that might give the enemy any more knowledge then they would already have, but he is also obsessed with staying busy.

He is currently sifting through old Altean song records to try and find a song that Coran and Allura both remember the melody of but not the name. It's basically the definition of busy work, but Not-Shiro doesn't seem to mind. He has even promised to help Coran clean the Castle once he's done.

However, Not-Shiro refuses to even go near the Black Lion's hangar, and the team feel like sitting ducks without the assurance that they can form Voltron if needed. That's why Allura suggested this training session. That's why they're all in the Black Lion hangar, trying to convince Keith to do what's best for the team.

"It's best for the team if I don't pilot the Black Lion," Keith says.

They have been circling around this point for what feels like hours. They have all given Keith their best arguments, appealed to his sense of duty. They have done everything short of beg.

The way that Lance steps forward at Keith's words tells Hunk that he is beginning to lose his patience.

"It's ‘best for the team’ to have five pilots in four lions and one of us always sitting on the sidelines?" Lance asks, face incredulous, "You know that's not true Keith."

"I'm not a leader," Keith says, gathering himself up to say the words at Lance with finality.

Hunk expects Lance to be taken aback, to clench his teeth or show some tell of his jealousy, but Lance remains calm. He places and hand on Keith's shoulder and says something unexpected but somehow undeniably true.

"Voltron doesn't need a leader."

Keith's gaze snaps to Lance's face, but Lance has shifted to look at Allura.

"No offence Allura, but your description of the paladins was wrong. Voltron doesn't need a decisive head. Maybe _we_ did, when we were first starting out, maybe the old paladins did, but there's nothing about Voltron itself that says that the paladin in the Black Lion has to be the one calling the shots."

Lance smiles at Allura, and Allura smiles back, her face morphing from surprise into pride. Then he looks at each of them in turn.

"Pidge is the leader of Voltron, when we have to decode intel or hack into a Galra ship. Hunk is leader whenever we have to use our strength to fight away enemies, or use our hearts to make the hard decisions."

Lance looks at him with love in his eyes, telling him that he needs him for so much more. Hunk tries to ensure that Lance can read that the feeling is mutual just from his expression.

"Allura has been leading us in diplomatic missions from day one," Lance continues, "and her knowledge of universal history and Altean alchemy can give us intel that we can't get anywhere else.

"And Keith," Lance turns to him, and Keith stands transfixed, "you're a better pilot than any of us. You can pull manoeuvres in the heat of the moment that no one else could pull off after a lifetime of practise. You never forget what's important, you're willing to take risks to get things done and you never lose sight of our duty to the universe.

"We don't need a replacement Shiro, all we need is someone who has the team's best interests at heart. Who can listen to what others have to say and makes sure that everyone knows how important they are. Who is willing to wear the hard decisions we make when there is no right answer."

Two years ago Hunk would have said that something wasn't a Lance speech unless it ended with a flourish or a shout. But this one ends with a pat on the shoulder and soft reassurance.

"All we need is someone who will try."

Something in Hunk clicks, and an old twinge in his side he's had since this whole journey began fades away. Because he'd never wanted to pilot the Black Lion, but he'd wanted an opinion that felt more valid than it had before. He wants to be able to take the lead in missions that suit him and sit back and help when others take charge. He wants power to be more central. He wants to be part of the team that Lance just described.

Keith is looking at Lance like he hung the stars, and there's a certain clarity in his eyes that Hunk hasn't seen there before.

Before he can think on it further they are interrupted by the Black Lion's roar.

Lance whips around, and they all turn to see the Black Lion lower its head and open its mouth, waiting for Lance to step inside. It takes Hunk back to Earth, more than a year ago, when the Blue Lion called to Lance, when he brought them all to Voltron and their destined roles.

This time however, it's not much a new start as the cementing of something that has been a long time coming, building up behind their eyes when they weren't paying attention.

Keith presses the black bayard into Lance's hands, and when Lance looks at him in shock Keith is smiling back at him fondly.

"I'm not good with words like you are Lance," he says, and Lance makes a joking scoff, "but you know the team needs you like we do breathing, right?"

Lance stares at him for a moment and wipes away a tear, before he silently accepts the black bayard. Hunk takes that as his cue, and he steps forward to encase Lance in his arms, the rest of the team only a step behind. Hunk hears Coran sobbing with loud declarations of joy, and Lance lets out a wet laugh against Hunk's chest.

When they eventually pull away Lance grips his new bayard tighter in his hands and gazes up at the Black Lion, still waiting for him to enter. Then he looks back at the team.

"For old times' sake?" He asks, with motioning his head towards the ramp.

Pidge lets out a joyous shout and runs forward. Hunk takes Lance's hand as they follow her up the ramp, and Keith is next to them looking calmer by the minute. Coran stops to admire the Altean architecture he's never see before, and Allura walks with him, hands clasped in front of her and listening to Coran's anecdotes about her father with a fond smile.

It takes them a few minutes to reach the cockpit, and as soon as Lance sits down the lights around the console turn on impatiently.

"Okay, here we go," Lance says, and pushes them out of the castle at top speed.

He twists and turns the controls erratically, sending the Black Lion into a series of flips and twists that feel nothing like natural. The fact that he still doesn't have a perfect handle of the controls is even more worrying.

"Why do always do this?!" Keith yells, clutching onto the back of the Black Lion's chair in terror.

"Sorry, what was that? I can't hear you!" Lance sing-songs and throws the Black Lion into another spin.

"I said we're so lucky to have you as part of the team!"

"Now would you please put us down!" Hunk asks over the roar of the engine, and Lance laughs and settles the Black Lion back into a stable trajectory.

"Well that was thrilling," Allura says after the team have caught their breath. Her hair is falling out of her bun in patches, "what do you call this style of flying?"

"Team bonding," Lance says with a smirk.

Hunk just tries to breathe through his nose and settle his stomach. Unlike their last such ride, it actually works. Lance starts telling Allura about roller coasters, and Allura's face tells Hunk that they'll have to take her to a theme park if she ever visits Earth.

They fly over the forests of Olkarion as the sun slowly sets behind the trees.

Lance lets Pidge steer on the way back, sitting on his lap so that she can actually reach the console.  He laughs at her and she looks at him for a moment, before jerking the Black Lion into a spin without warning. This time even Lance lets of a squawk, and he claws the arm rests of the chair to stay seated.

"Ok, point taken," he concedes, and Pidge grins at him before she stabilises them again.

By the time they reach the Castle it's dark. Not-Shiro is waiting for them in the kitchen, sipping a pouch of water, but he closes his eyes when they walk in.

“Don’t tell me specifics!” He all but yells, and then, after a few minutes, “but you’re good, right?”

Keith pats Not-Shiro on the shoulder as he goes to grab bowls for everyone.

“Yeah, we’re good,” he says, sending Lance a smile from over his shoulder.

Keith turns away immediately, but Hunk swears he can see red invade Lance’s cheeks.

They keep the conversation light as they eat and Coran sends them off to bed with an excited declaration of all the work they'll have to do in the morning.

Hunk knows that they'll have to wake long before the sun rises, due to Olkarion's long day cycles, but despite this there's something nice about going to bed knowing that the world outside is also dark.

He and Lance get ready for bed in comfortable silence, and when they shuffle under the covers Hunk pulls Lance close.

"I'm so proud of you."

Lance hums against his chest, and leans up to give Hunk a sleepy kiss.

"Thanks sunshine, I love you."

"I love you too."

Sleep comes easier than it has in a long while. For once it finally feels like they're making progress, that this step forward won't immediately be followed by three steps back.

* * *

 

Hunk and Keith are both elbow deep in one of the castle's power converters. Allura's scans had showed that this particular converter was working at less than 40% capacity, and that as a result the castle's particle barrier has been performing sub-optimally. Hunk, perhaps unkindly, wonders if it's been performing sub-optimally since their journey began. It would certainly explain a few things.

Keith is running through the system diagnostics a few feet away, his jacket discarded on the floor. He has just finished the second book in the series that Hunk and Allura have been reading, and they're discussing the twist ending as they work.

Hunk is fixing any problems the diagnostics bring up. He's currently taking apart one of the quintessence concentration chambers, so that he can get to its input valve which is leaking. However, there are two different outputs Hunk has to disconnect while holding the rest of the system steady or else the entire thing may fall apart in his hands.

Coran once told Hunk that Altean engineers often shapeshifted into something with more arms and legs as they worked. At the time Hunk hadn't believed him, but working with their engine systems it seems more and more plausible by the day.

"Hey Keith, could you help me with this for a sec?"

Keith wanders over and sticks his arms in to hold the part steady as Hunk disconnects one of the valves. However, he doesn't see that it is the only thing keeping the leaked input from seeping through. As he gives it one final turn, the greasy liquid gushes through, dowsing their arms in a light turquoise liquid.

The liquid seems to glow as soon as it comes in contact with Hunk's skin, and he can feel it beginning to burn.

"Oh quiznak," Hunk swears, glancing around the room for the bucket of neutralising solution Allura had given him, "this stuff's like really strong acid but magic. We have to wash it off."

Keith looks down at where the liquid is coating his bare arms and gloves, and looks at Hunk with a strained expression.

"I think I'm good."

Hunk has already removed his gloves, and tossed them aside so that he can scrub at his hands and arms. After a few moments the burning stops, and the turquoise liquid all but dissolves, leaving the neutralising solution in the bucket looking exactly as it did before. Hunk looks to Keith with a frown.

"No Keith, you need to wash it off with the solution Allura gave us."

"No, I really think I'm fine," Keith says, backing up, even as Hunk can see him bite back a wince, "I might just go have a shower to get this cleaned off-"

"Keith," Hunk cuts him off, stepping forward with a stern expression, "this stuff is infused with concentrated quintessence runoff. You need to neutralise it first, come on."

"Maybe because I'm part Galra this isn't affecting me but I really can't feel anything."

Hunk swears he can hear Keith's skin start to sizzle, and that's it for him. He leans forward and grabs Keith's hand and starts dragging him towards the bucket. He'll have to wash his own hands again now, but he's not thinking about it as he starts splashing Keith's arms with the solution.

Keith is still protesting, trying to drag his hands away. Hunk sighs and reaches for Keith's gloves.

"Some of it might have gotten under you gloves Keith, come one."

Keith relents somewhat, now seemingly intent on twisting his wrists as far around as they can go, away from Hunk's line of sight. Hunk pulls Keith's glove down, and is just about to yank it off, when his hand touches Keith's and a slow burning starts on his left wrist.

Hunk sees the creation and destruction of the world in one crisp moment.

He wants to be sick. He would give anything to go back in time five minutes and stop any of this from happening. He tries to tell himself that it's a lie, that this is just his panicked mind reacting to the first hand he's touched since Lance's all those years ago.

But when Hunk happens to glance down at his wrist he sees red writing etching itself across his skin, and his heart all but shatters in his still beating chest.

"I'm not feeling very well," he says, standing and walking away before Keith can even think to react, "I'll see you later."

Keith doesn't move from his spot as Hunk leaves the room, his eyes trained on his wrist with uncertain trepidation.

* * *

 

Hunk doesn't blame Keith, because none of them asked for this, but if Hunk could fight the universe for making Lance cry, he would in a heartbeat.

When Hunk had found Lance just arriving back from a diplomatic meeting with the Olkari he'd been unable to speak. Lance had asked what was wrong, run his hands over his back and pulled him into one of the lesser used common rooms for some privacy. It was only in the safety of Lance's arms that Hunk was able to start to steady his breathing.

Hunk doesn't know how long it took him to show Lance his wrist. He remembers the pain, but not the tick of the clock. He remembers Lance's rattling breath, his broken reassures of getting through it, hands rubbing circles across Hunk's back even as Hunk could feel them quake.

They stay, locked in each other's arms, a testament against the forces trying to pull them apart. The universe may call Keith his future, but Hunk knows Lance is his everything.

Hunk doesn't hear the footsteps, so when Lance says Keith's name out of the blue Hunk thinks he's trying to start a conversation. He tightens his grip on Lance and silently begs for just a few minutes, an hour, an eternity more of this.

But there's shuffling near the door and Keith's voice stutters as he talks.

"Sorry- Pidge is- with the - schematics - I'll just go" he says, and seems ready to sprint out of the room, before Lance calls for him to wait.

Hunk lifts his head slightly off Lance's shoulder so he peer at Keith through his eyelashes. Keith looks uncomfortable. He's wearing his jacket again, and he looks closed off from the rest of the world. He sits when Lance asks, and weaves his arms around his knees. He looks unattainable, and Hunk isn't sure whether he wants to reach out or shrink back..

The conversation stalls for a few minutes, and Lance clenches his eyes shut before he opens them in Keith's direction. His face is set in a grim determination, like he's ready to rip off a bandaid.

"When you got the acid on your hands Hunk pulled down your glove," he says, not unkindly.

Keith pauses, and his gaze flickers to the black gloves covering his hands.

"Oh," he says.

Keith's has the audacity to look surprised. Like this is a shock to him. Like he doesn't have the proof that will secure Hunk's unhappiness right there on his wrist. Hunk forces these thoughts down as soon as they spring up. He knows that this isn't Keith's fault. It isn't anyone's.

Somehow the fact that there's nothing to solve and no one to blame just makes it even worse.

Hunk wants Keith to lean forward and reassure them. Keith, their teammate and friend. He wants Keith to go back to the way he always felt. He wants Keith to go back to being an unasked question. He's found he doesn't want to know the answer.

Hunk wants Keith to leave. Keith, the name on his wrist, the letters that Hunk can't seem to shake from their context. He wants to hate them. He wants to want to scream, and claw the marks off. He wants to feel revulsion deep into his gut whenever the red lettering catches his eye.

Instead all he feels is sadness. Because Hunk knows deep down that he has always been content to be Keith's. He only fights the fact that it means he can't be Lance's.

"Hunk, I'm not going to try and take Lance away from you," Keith says, his voice soothing and soft and gentle and like daggers all at once.

Hunk doesn't know what to say in response. He'd always feared this day would come, but he'd been expecting the figure with their name on his wrist to be a stranger. Not Keith. Not reckless, everything for the sake of the mission Keith. Not the boy who cracks jokes when they're alone and then vehemently denies making them around everyone else. Not Keith who loves at the sake of himself, not the one person Hunk is loath to hurt as much as Lance.

Part of Hunk knows he shouldn't really be surprised. It's clear as day now that the way Keith has always stood out from the crowd was never a premonition to Voltron. It was a premonition to this moment, to Keith etched in his skin and a choice he doesn't know how to make. This moment was inevitable right from the start, but still a secret part of Hunk had wanted Keith to have the perfect soulmate story, the one he and Lance never got. As much as the thought hurt, Hunk wanted Keith to be tied to anyone but him.

No matter what happens Hunk can't see them getting through the conversation without at least one of them heartbroken. He just isn't sure how to configure it so that Lance and Keith are left unscathed.

Whether Keith understands Hunk's inner turmoil or not, he shifts so he’s sitting cross-legged and his fingers drum in frantic beats across his thigh. His expression remains clear, but his tone of voice lets Hunk know he's gritting his teeth.

"I don't care that I have his name on my wrist. I don't need a soulmate."

And that hits Hunk's brain like a battering ram. The single word that breaks the script. The pronoun he's not expecting.

The next think Hunk knows he's staring deep into indigo eyes. His mouth aghast and a word hanging in the air in his voice.

"His?"

Keith flinches and Hunk can hear his shock clear in the single syllable. He hopes Keith doesn't take it as cruel. He hopes against hope that Keith will stay.

"Lance is my soulmate," Keith looks away, and Hunk can see him digging his fingernails into his gloved palm, "I got his name on my wrist when I pulled him out of the malfunctioning airlock."

Hunk feels Lance's hands slacken their grip around him as they sit there in stunned silence. A very small part of Hunk's heart starts to hope.

Keith looks between them with a grim, set mouth and a red face. There are tears silently making their way down his cheeks. He wipes at his cheek absentmindedly before he starts to get up.

"I'll leave you two alone," he says, but before he can move Lance has all but dived out of Hunk's arms and onto Keith's knees.

It's probably the least graceful thing Lance has ever done, all flailing limbs and exaggerated inelegance. Keith stares down at him and Lance stares right back. Neither of them move.

"I have Hunk's name on my wrist," Lance says, stating the obvious but still managing to trip over his words. Keith looks down at him like he can't tell whether this is a joke at his expense. Lance looks back at Hunk with wide eyes and Hunk continues the thought.

"And I have yours," he says, a slow smiling spreading across his face as Keith looks between them in stunned silence.

Hunk offers his still uncovered left hand and Keith all but leaps on it. He grasps on it like a lifeline, turning it over in his hands and gasping as he reads his name in bright red lettering.

Seeing Keith watching the letters as if they were something reverent helps the final lingering notes of grief clinging to Hunk all but fall away.

And when Hunk turns his gaze to Lance, Lance is already looking up at him. His cheeks are still stained with tears, but his smile is radiant, and his posture is more relaxed than Hunk has seen him in months. He lets go of Keith's knees to lean up and peck Hunk on the lips.

"It was worth it for this," he whispers like an open secret, and Hunk can't help but agree.

Then Lance turns to Keith, taking his hands and leaning towards him slowly. He pauses before their lips meet, leaning his forehead against Keith’s and shooting him a wet grin.

"Is this okay?" He asks, soft and gentle in the still air.

Keith kisses him as an answer. It's sloppy and Hunk can see that they're both still a little unsure, but it dispels the final tension from the air. All of them look overwhelmingly, prodigiously happy.

Then they pull apart, and Keith looks to Hunk, his grin hopeful.

Hunk leans eagerly forward, and smiles against Keith's lips.

Kissing Lance feels like walking down familiar streets, like summers at the beach, like picking up a conch shell and finding the whole universe inside.

Kissing Keith is a gentle flame that has been burning since time began. It's turning down an unfamiliar street and knowing it's the way home. It's jumping off a cliff just to find out you can fly.

* * *

 

Hunk had assumed that any conversation beginning with him gaining his soulmark would end with tears or at least awkward silences. Instead, Keith is leaning against his chest and Lance is sprawled across both their sets of legs as they try and guess the plot of the only Altean movie they could find in the ship's database.

Lance is doing voices for all the different characters, even though half of them are impossible to tell apart. Hunk is joining in when he can, one hand around Keith's shoulders, the other carding through Lance's hair. Keith is settled in, laughing at their antics. He spouts off the occasional witty response to their voices, his arms resting across Lance's abdomen.

One such remark causes Lance to look up at him with a joke-ish start.

"Wow, Hunk wasn't kidding. You are funny."

Hunk should be offended by his tone, but the way Keith relaxes further against his chest as he sends a quip back Lance's way lessens the effect somewhat. Keith looks at peace, and he keeps looking between then in wonder, as if he can't believe this is really happening. Hunk's heart warms at the sight, and he curls his fingers around the hair at the base of Keith's neck. Keith blushes, but he smiles at Hunk with wide eyes.

The movie seems to drag on for hours longer than expected, and Hunk knows it would be dark by the time it finished, if Olkarian days didn't last for the equivalent of 83 Earth hours.

It's still late for them, but they don't want to leave, filling the silence of the room with arguments about what genre the film should be classified.

This whole thing still feels new and fragile enough that Hunk's chest tightens when Keith sits ramrod straight and exclaims "Oh quiznak!"

"What is it?" Lance sits up, looking at Keith with the same shock and trepidation Hunk can feel coursing through his veins.

"Pidge asked me to get her the schematics of the main turbines 5 hours ago," Keith says, starting to get up before he realises that Lance is still half sitting on his legs.

Lance, for his part, dissolves into laughter and Hunk rests his head on Keith's shoulder to hide his giggles.

"What?" Keith asks, looking at them in confusion "she's going to be really pissed at me."

"We thought you were getting second thoughts or something. Way to scare us half to death."

Keith looks at them for a moment, brows furrowing in thought, before he resolutely sits back against Hunk's chest and tugs at Lance’s body until he’s lying back across Keith’s thighs.

"I'm not going to leave," Keith says, voice serious.

"You can if you need to give Pidge something," Hunk says, looking at him, "I think I have the schematics for the main turbines on my tablet."

"No," Keith starts, and then pauses to collect himself, "I mean - I'm not going to run away. It might take me a while to adjust - but I want to be with you. As long as you'll have me."

Hunk lets out a breath he didn't expect to be shaky. Keith looks over at him and Hunk presses his head back into Keith's shoulder.

He feels the embarrassment creep up his neck.

He tries to say something suave, but what comes out is "sounds good to me," unclear and muffled against Keith's shoulder.

Lance laughs, and when Hunk turns to look at him there's a light shining in his eyes, as if projected from his soul itself. Keith smiles like it's going out of style, and brushes a hand against Hunk's cheek.

"We could start at the beginning and go from there?" Keith asks.

Hunk has told Keith about how he and Lance met before, but it hadn't gone much beyond that. He never told Keith about the night under the stars, not even the abridged version, and Keith hadn't asked. Looking back, Hunk realises he probably didn't want to know.

But now he and Lance retell the story from the start and for the first time they tell the truth. Hunk deals with the scene where he didn't get Lance's mark, he knows a single afternoon isn't enough to wipe away all the pain about it that Lance has been carrying for years. Hunk adds in the feelings he had around Keith in the Garrison, and Lance recalls something similar, mixed with jealousy and pride.

He still looks slightly bitter when he says "I guess you didn't remember us though."

Keith coughs into his hand, and red invades his face. Lance's eyes go wide.

"You did, didn't you?" Lance asks.

"To be fair," Keith says, ignoring Lance's triumphant yell, "I didn't know your name. I knew Hunk, but you never actually told me what your name was."

Hunk laughs, and it's Lance's turn to look embarrassed.

"Really?"

"Yeah. You just came up to me one day and said you were my rival. I tried to ask someone and he thought I was joking or being a dick or something? I knew you two were special though, and you were dating, and that Lance hated me."

"I never hated you," Lance admits, reaching up a hand to thread his fingers through Keith's.

"I never thought I was better than you," Keith replies, and Lance shoots him a grateful smile.

The story continues up to space and past forming Voltron for the first time. Now, Keith adds in how he felt from the other side of the fence, looking in. They all talk about thinking nothing will ever work out, and the guilt over mixed feelings that they couldn't place.

At one point Lance avoids Keith's gaze and blushes up to his roots.

"I remember the bonding moment."

Now it's Keith's turn to gaze down at him in wonder.

"But you said you-"

"I know, I know," Lance tries to cover his face in his hands, but Keith doesn't let go where their fingers are still connected, "I was delirious and way too happy and honest and it just happened. Then the next morning it felt too romantic or something. I felt weird, and like I was betraying Hunk. I should've told you, but I-"

Keith cuts him off by bringing Lance's hand to his lips.

"I understand," he says, and Lance melts as Hunk runs a hand through his hair.

The story slowly gets more clear as they progress through it, until eventually they land right back at this moment. Lying on a couch, in the aftermath. Eventually they know they'll have to move, to get dinner and deliver plans to Pidge, but for now they just savour the calm after the storm.

For the first time since he boarded the bus to study as an Engineer at the Galaxy Garrison, Hunk feels totally and utterly at peace.

* * *

 

Later, when they're headed to bed and they reach the room Hunk and Lance share Keith dawdles, unsure. He kisses them each on the cheek and wishes them goodnight. Without thinking, Hunk's hand  catches his arm as he turns to leave.

"Do you want to stay?" Hunk asks, an echo of the question he asked Lance months ago. The wide eyed look Keith gives him is the same as the one he received as an answer from Lance.

"Come on sweet cheeks we're not going to kick you out just so we can snuggle," Lance says, using a nickname he apparently invented in the last 3.5 seconds, "but if you're not comfortable that's also fine, no pressure."

Keith's face is red, but he's smiling quietly as he looks between them.

"That sounds nice, let me just go get changed" he says, and he squeezes Hunk's hand before he leaves.

Hunk and Lance are brushing their teeth when Keith comes back, picking at a red robe that matches Hunk and Lance's, red lion slippers on his feet that Lance immediately coos over.

"I figured you wouldn't let me in wearing my regular clothes," Keith says with a shy grin.

"You thought correct," Lance says, taking Keith by the hand and leading him to the bed to get settled.

Hunk slides in on Keith's other side, nearest the door. He lies down and slowly Keith inches closer towards him, until the three of them end up almost squashed right in the middle of the bed.

Hunk has never felt so warm. Lance might provide more heat than a blanket but Keith is practically a living furnace, living up to his name as the paladin of fire. However in the deep cold of space that all the Altean insulation in the world can't fully keep out, Hunk can't say it's unpleasant.

He doesn't even get time to enjoy the sensation because he falls asleep faster than he has since he last slept on his own bed at home, back on Earth.

His dreams are full of indiscernible shapes, but tonight they're all friendly, celebrating something that Hunk can't name. Hunk smiles in his sleep and snuggles closer to Keith, his arm finding Lance across Keith's abdomen.

Hunk awakens with a gentle slowness he's become unaccustomed to. The feeling of someone shifting beside him before his body is fully ready to be awake. His mind marks the movement as safe so he doesn't spring awake, ready to soothe a nightmare or fight off an enemy. Instead he scrunches his eyes shut tighter as he speaks, his voice cracking at the early hour.

"What time is it?"

"It's still early" comes back in Keith's voice, and Hunk's brain slowly fills itself with memories of yesterday, a rollercoaster of confusion and pain and finally unbridled joy.

His eyes open of their own accord, reminding him that this is his first chance to see sleepy, morning Keith. Before he's gotten ready for the day. Before he's even gotten out of bed.

Keith is smiling down at him from where he's trying to climb over Hunk to get to the door. His hair is rumpled and he's still wearing his red pyjamas. His eyes aren't fully open yet, like he too is still feeling the lingering effects of sleep.

He's beautiful.

Keith pauses as Hunk watches him and then a smile draws itself across his lips. A sleepy smile, but also just about the most content look Hunk has ever seen on Keith's face.

"Go back to sleep. I'm going to go train."

Keith brushes his hand through Hunk's hair, and Hunk can feel his eyes drift closed once more.

"I'll see you at breakfast," Keith says, and Hunk hums in agreement before there's a shift in the bed and Hunk can hear Keith leave the room with quiet footsteps.

Hunk instinctively rolls himself into the warm patch that Keith left and draws Lance into his arms before drifting back into slumber.

When Hunk wakes again Lance is curled up behind him, arms around his waist, head pressed against his back. It takes Hunk a few minutes to escape Lance's grip, and in the end he has to pull a bait and switch. Lance frowns slightly into the cold pillow now pressed into his arms, but his eyes remain closed, and Hunk presses a kiss against his forehead before he goes to get changed.

On his way to breakfast Hunk spots Keith, pouch of water in one hand and a towel over his left shoulder. His hair is ruffled and sweaty, and his face still holds a hint of redness from his training session. His whole face lights up when he sees Hunk, and Hunk can feel himself almost glow in response.

"Good morning," Keith says, voice sweet as honey, before he leans up to give Hunk a brief kiss.

Getting morning kisses from two soulmates instead of one is definitely something he could get used to.

"Morning," Hunk says, reaching for Keith's empty hand, "how was training?"

"It was good. I'm going to take a shower before breakfast but I'll see you there," Keith smiles as much as he speaks.

"I'll save you some food goo."

Keith laughs before pressing a kiss to Hunk's cheek. Hunk rubs his thumb across Keith's knuckles before he lets go of his hands, and waves before he continues on his way.

He stretches as he wanders into the dining room. No one else is at breakfast yet, so he grabs a bowl of food goo and sits down to enjoy the few minutes of silence before the rest of the ship wakes up.

Pidge comes in next, and bristles when Hunk greets her. She looks like how the Yellow Lion feels right before a battle, so he doesn't press a conversation. He assumes she's been working on a project all night, although even then she doesn't usually direct her grumpiness at others.

It's not until Lance enters that Hunk thinks to label Pidge's behaviour odd. She stands up as soon as he walks in, and gestures him over to a corner of the room. She doesn't look angry at Lance, if anything the frown on her face is sympathetic. Heaven knows why. Lance smiles at Hunk before he follows her and Hunk swears that Pidge bares her teeth in his general direction before she looks away.

Hunk frowns, but figures that whatever is bothering her will soon become apparent. With seven people living in tight quarters, even secrets aren't kept for long.

Keith wanders in and raises an eyebrow in Pidge and Lance's direction, before he too brushes his curiosity off.

Pidge clearly isn't angry at just Hunk, because she throws Keith a similar glare, and then looks at Lance like he might break at any moment. Lance follows her gaze, and raises a hand towards Keith in greeting but Pidge smacks it away. Lance shakes his head and hisses something at her. She puts a sympathetic hand on his shoulder and pulls him down to whisper something in his ear.

Keith plops down next to Hunk and puts down two bowls of food goo, one for him, one for the empty space to his left.

Hunk is about to ask Keith his plans for the day when the silence is broken by Lance twirling from where he was talking to Pidge to face them. He raises a single dramatic finger to point at Keith.

"Keith!" He shrieks "How could you?!"

Hunk turns to look at Keith with a start and Keith stares at Lance somewhat akin to a deer caught in headlights. From behind Lance, Pidge squares her shoulders and sends sharp looks to both Keith and Hunk.

"Hunk gets a kiss and I don't even get a “good morning love of my life”? A formal handshake? A “sup”?"

Hunk's shoulders deflate as he realises that Lance isn't actually mad. The stunned expression on Keith's face is replaced with a confusion, understanding and finally a fond smile, and he gestures to Lance's place on his other side.

"I got you some food goo?" He says, waiting patiently as Lance rounds the table.

"Did you? Thanks babe," Lance says, kissing him on the lips before turning to Hunk.

"And good morning to you sunshine," he says, depositing a similar kiss to Hunk's lips.

Pidge is now the one staring, but after a moment she shakes her head and directs a frown at Lance.

"What's going on?"

Lance just shrugs and opens his mouth with a grin.

"All three of us are soulmates," Hunk cuts him off, giving her a clear answer, because he knows Lance won't.

She stares at them stunned for a moment, before her frown all but melts away, and as she looks between them it's replaced with a small smile that could most accurately be described as proud.

"Congrats," she says, before she sits down and picks up her spoon, "have you told everyone else yet?"

"Not yet," Lance says, his mouth half full, "ugh, telling people things is such a pain, why hasn't anyone invented space telepathy yet?"

"They have," Keith mutters without looking at him, "Coran uses it to make us do training exercises."

"Ok, point made," Lance concedes.

"You know," Pidge grins over at them, her anger forgotten, "I don't think you've ever given up an argument so quickly before Lance, maybe this soulmate thing is good for you."

"Hey, I can admit when Keith's right, even if he does decide to sport a mullet in this day and age."

This would usually be a signifier of at least a five minute shouting match, but today Keith just leans forward and smirks at Lance.

"You know you love my mullet."

"You got me Keith. Really I just have a deep and personal love for 80s haircuts.. Hunk had a rat tail when we first met. I cried for three months when he cut it off."

Keith laughs at the look of pure disgust on Hunk's face.

They finish eating, and as they're putting away their plates, Pidge looks contemplative.

"You know, if you wanted to tell everyone at once you could post something to the group chat."

The “Team Voltron text communication channel” as it's officially titled or “the group chat” as Lance and Pidge nicknamed it is a fairly recent addition. Pidge only started working on it seriously after a severe case of what most closely resembled space bronchitis swept through the team. It had left them all with racking coughs and no voices to speak of.

Fortunately there had been no emergency missions that needed to be dealt with at the time, but Allura and Pidge had still decided it would be worth the time invested on a method of communication that didn't require spoken words. At present the group chat is mostly used for sharing photos of interesting flora and fauna they come across in their travels.

Lance looks a little too excited at the group chat idea, and Hunk silently resigns himself to his fate. Keith seems so content looking at Lance that it looks like nothing could shake it. Hunk can't keep his spirits down when he sees Keith that happy.

"Are you suggesting that I should take a whole heap of cute pictures with my soulmates? Because you know me too well Pidge."

"I'm saying I probably have ten minutes before I have to start work on the main engine turbines if you guys make it quick."

Lance whoops, and grabs Hunk and Keith's arms, one in each hand.

‘Ten minutes’ turns into twenty, until eventually Lance looks over the photos satisfied.

"This one is definitely going in the scrapbook," he says, and from over his shoulder, Hunk can't help but agree.

It's one of the simpler poses they tried, all three of them standing in the middle of the kitchen, holding hands and smiling. Lance selects it along with a photo of the three of them showing their soul marks to the camera in much the same way that a newly engaged woman might show off a ring. Keith looks adorably awkward, Hunk is laughing and Lance looks like a professional hand model the way he's posing.

Apparently Lance sends it without a caption, because Allura sends back a string of question and exclamation marks. A few minutes later she and Coran both storm in, and she takes one look at the three of them before saying something in Altean and pulling them in for a hug.

Coran coos over the photo, and joins the group hug with tears streaming down his cheeks.

The six of them spend more time in the kitchen than they probably should, and by the time they split off to do their work the sun is just about to rise. Lance goes with Coran to help clean the cryopods ("again" Lance adds), and Keith promised Allura he'd help test the castle's defences against fast moving targets with the Red Lion. Hunk waves them both off and asks Pidge about her plans for the day as they walk towards the engine rooms in the lower levels.

She talks about some potential upgrades to the main engine turbines, and he agrees that increasing the Castle's top speed could be a great asset if they need to escape a fight without wormhole-ing.

"Of course I'd be further along if you hadn't side tracked Keith for 5 hours yesterday," she grumbles, "although I guess it sounds like you had a good reason."

"Tell you what, I have some repairs to finish but if I come and help you afterwards we can probably catch up for the time missed?"

Pidge smiles at him and he ruffles her hair before they part ways.

Hunk spends the next few hours working on what he and Keith hadn't finished the day before.  He manages to remove the components without breaking anything else, using ingenuity and space duct tape, and has just finished fixing the leaking input valve and is running diagnostics on a blocked pipe when Keith wanders in.

"Lance says we have a triactic bond" he says, kissing Hunk on the cheek by way of greeting.

"Hello to you too," Hunk says, pressing his lips to Keith's to show he doesn't mean it, "I didn't realise there's a name for it."

"He said that's what Coran called it anyway, apparently some species have more soulmates on average than others. Three-way bonds were very common on Altea."

"Huh," Hunk says, "you know, looking back it probably would have been smart to ask Coran about it. I guess Lance and I always just assumed it was a mistake."

"You thought you'd find you had a different soulmate one day?"

"Lance did," Hunk admits easily, "I knew Lance was my soulmate. I didn't really know what to think. But I was worried that Lance was right."

Keith looks deep in thought. Hunk takes his hand and runs his thumb over his knuckles.

"I tried to, ask Coran that is" Keith says, "Lance overheard me asking about two of something and thought I was talking about taking the Blue Lion."

Hunk laughs at that, long and hard. Whether it's at the way he's pictured Lance's face, or the imagined exchange, or simply dramatic irony he can't tell. Probably a mix of all three.

"So we could have had this whole thing worked out months ago?"

"Probably not," Keith shrugs, "I was asking about whether someone could have two soul marks. Coran had already said no when Lance came over."

"You wanted to know if…" Hunk trails off, unsure.

"When I got Lance's name I thought at first that maybe he could have gotten a second mark. I kept trying to justify why Lance wouldn't have told me about it," Keith looks away, and his smile falls somewhat, "I thought maybe one day I'd touch you hand and get a second mark."

Hunk reaches an arm around Keith and squeezes.

"We got there in the end though."

Keith looks up at him, and he frames Hunk's face with his hands.

"Yeah," Keith says, his frown dissolved into happiness, "we did."

Hunk leans forward and pecks Keith on the nose. Keith laughs and swats him away, before asking what he can do to help.

They manage to replace the blocked pipe, but not without getting another coating of light turquoise liquid on their hands. This time, they both pull off their gloves easily, and Keith intertwines their fingers when their hands are dry. Hunk's chest is light as they continue working,

It isn't until he's getting changed into his pyjamas that he realises his gloves are still on the floor of the castle's main generator. In the past this fact alone could have sparked a panic attack, but now he notes it with only a mild interest. He contemplates going to retrieve them, but decides against it. Instead he slips into bed, and Keith and Lance snuggle up against him, one on each side. Lance slides his hand into Hunk's and Keith rests his head on Hunk's chest. Hunk decides that the gloves aren't important. He'll have time to go get them tomorrow, or the next day, or in three weeks.

He doesn't need them anymore.  



End file.
